BERKELEY 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 


J 


f 


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The  Crest  of  the  Arms  of  the  United  States,  was  the  Thirteen  Stars 
the  Cloud.  Tlie  reverse  side  of  tlie  Arms  or  Seal  teas  an  unfinis/ied  Pyramid 
The  likeness  was  cojrird  trith  great  care  and  accuracy  from  Sluarfa;  the  motto 
ia  from  Jefferson's  original  draft,  and  the  signature,  a  foe-simile  of  his  auto 
graph,  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


LIFE   AND*OPINI.ONS 


OF 


JULIUS    MELBt)URN; 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  LIVES  AND  CHARACTERS 

OF 

THOMAS   JEFFERSON,  JOHN   QUINCY  ADAMS, 
JOHN  RANDOLPH, 

AND  SEVERAL  OTHER  EMINENT  AMERICAN  STATESMEN. 
EDITED   BY 

A  LATE  MEMBER  OF  CONGRESS. 


SYRACUSE: 
PUBLISKED    BY    HALL    &    DICKSON. 

NEW  YORK:— A.  S.  BARNES  &  CO. 
1847. 


Entered,  according  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1847, 
BY   HALL    &    D1CKSON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Northern 
District  of  New  York. 


LOAN  STACK 


PREFACE 


BY      THE      EDITOR 


INDEPENDENT  of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  style  of  the  follow 
ing  work,  or  the  talents  or  defect  of  talents  which  the  writer  may 
have  displayed,  the  publishers  may  with  great  propriety  ask  them 
selves  who  they  can  reasonably  hope  will  patronise  this  book  ? 

It  is  quite  certain  they  cannot  expect  the  approbation  of  either 
of  the  two  great  political  parties  in  the  nation  ;  for  the  errors  and 
faults  of  both  parties  in  the  course  of  the  work  are  pointed  out 
without  reserve  and  animadverted  upon  with  freedom.  Nor  can 
the  publishers  hope  for  the  general  support  of  the  people  inhabiting 
any  particular  part  of  the  United  States  ;  because  the  author  up 
braids  the  northern  and  western  sections  of  the  Union  with  pursuing 
a  cold  and  selfish  policy  from  mercenary  motives,  and  with  a  polit 
ical  subserviency  to  the  South  caused  by  a  love  or'  office  and  its 
emoluments  ;  while  at  the  same  time  he  charges  the  slaveholding 
states  with  sustaining  unjust  and  tyrannical  laws,  and  grossly  vio 
lating  human  rights.  Even  the  Christian  Church  in  America,  and 
its  clergy,  with  some  honorable  exceptions,  the  author  does  not 
hesitate  to  accuse  of  pursuing  the  expedient  rather  than  the  right 
course,  and  of  being  greatly  influenced  by  sinister  motives.  But  as 
a  very  slight  examination  of  the  book  will  show  that  the  author  is 
opposed  to  slavery  in  all  its  forms,  may  not  the  publishers,  it  will 
be  asked,  flatter  themselves  that  it  will  receive  the  support  and  pat 
ronage  of  the  Abolition  party  1  Alas  for  the  Trade  !  they  must 
not  lay  even  "  this  flattering  unction  to  their  souls,"  for  the  author 
charges  the  Abolitionists  with  narrow  and  selfish  views  ;  and  as  a 

538 


4  PREFACE. 

party,  he  disapproves  of  many  of  their  schemes  and  condemns 
their  policy. 

This  view  of  the  general  tenor  of  the  book  and  of  the  state  of 
public  feeling,  it  must  be  confessed,  presents  an  unpromising  and 
cheerless  prospect  to  the  publishers.  But  are  there  not  many  indi 
viduals  in  all  the  various  sects  in  religion,  and  in  all  the  political 
parties,  who  will  read  with  patience  and  consider  with  candor,  facts 
and  arguments,  notwithstanding  those  facts  and  arguments  may 
militate  against  their  own  particular  sect  or  party  ?  It  is  believed 
there  are,  and  that  they  are  considerable  in  numbers,  and  we  know 
that  many  of  them  are  highly  and  deservedly  distinguished  for  their 
merits,  their  talents,  and  their  patriotism.  It  is  to  that  portion  of 
the  American  public  that  we  appeal. 

It  may  be  said,  and  said  truly,  that  in  the  story  of  Mr.  Melbourn, 
as  related  by  himself,  there  is  nothing  mysterious  or  remarkable, 
inasmuch  as  all  the  incidents  which  happened  to  him,  though  they 
may  not  all  have  occurred  to  one  man  alone,  have  frequently  oc 
curred,  some  to  one  and  some  to  another  individual.  But  conceding 
that  Mr.  Melbourn's  narrative  may  not  gratify  curiosity  or  afford 
amusement,  because  it  contains  nothing  mysterious  or  improbable, 
it  is,  in  the  opinion  of  the  editor,  for  that  very  reason  the  more  inter 
esting.  Have  the  events  recorded  in  Mr.  Melbourn's  autobiography 
frequently  occurred,  and  are  they  still  daily  occurring  in  our  coun 
try — a  country  which  boasts  of  its  zeal  for  freedom  and  its  devo 
tion  to  civil  liberty — a  country  whose  political  parties  proudly 
inscribe  on  their  banners  "  EQUAL  RIGHTS"  as  their  motto — and 
shall  not  the  occurrence  of  such  events  "  excite  our  special  won 
der  V 

The  remarks  and  reflections  of  Mr.  Melbourn  during  the  space 
of  twenty  years,  the  greater  part  of  which  he  spent  in  the  northern 
cities  of  the  Union,  are,  it  is  true,  extremely  desultory,  and  some  of 
the  conclusions  to  which  he  arrived  may  be  considered  by  the 
mere  business  man,  or  the  busy  and  zealous  politician  struggling  for 
place  and  power,  as  unjust ;  but  it  ought  to  be  remembered  that 
Melbourn  belonged  neither  to  the  European  nor  African  race  ;  that 
his  African  blood  excluded  him  from  a  familiar  intercourse  with 
good  society  ;  that  he  nevertheless  possessed  a  cultivated  and  high 
ly  sensitive  mind  ;  that  he  was  independent  in  his  pecuniary  cir- 


PREFACE.  5 

cumstances  ;  and  yet  that  in  reality  he  had  no  associates.  His 
position  was  like  that  which  it  may  be  supposed  would  be  the  posi 
tion  of  a  being  who  was  a  native  of  one  of  the  planets  of  the  solar 
system  other  than  the  earth,  and  who  should  visit  this  world  and 
remain  here  for  twenty  years,  and  devote  his  time  to  making  critical 
observations  on  what  should  be  passing  among  its  inhabitants. 

Thus  situated,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  Melbourn  should  occasion 
ally  have  taken  rather  sombre  views  of  men  and  things  around 
him. 

His  sketches  of  the  lives  and  characters  of  several  eminent 
American  statesmen,  though  very  brief,  will,  it  is  believed,  be 
found  strictly  correct.  Indeed  the  accuracy  and  truthfulness  with 
which  he  paints,  proves  that  his  portraits  were  drawn  from  per 
sonal  knowledge  and  observation.  His  account  of  the  proceedings 
in  Congress  when  the  State  of  Missouri  was  admitted  into  the 
Union,  and  of  the  Presidential  elections  in  1817  and  1824,  will  be 
admitted,  by  many  persons  now  living,  to  be  sober  and  veritably 
history. 

But  it  is  to  be  feared  that  Mr.  Melbourn  has  in  one  respect,  if 
none  other,  committed  a  sin  altogether  unpardonable.  He  has  dared 
to  applaud  Great  Britain  for  its  toleration  of  independent  individual 
opinion,  and  the  free  expression  and  advocacy  of  them,  arid  also  for 
the  stern  and  unyielding  protection  its  government  affords  to  ther 
personal  rights  and  the  personal  liberty  of  each  human  being  who 
places  his  foot  on  British  soil. 

There  is  a  certain  class  of  American  reviewers  and  editors  of 
newspapers,  who  seem  to  regard  it  as  the  most  conclusive  evidence 
of  patriotism  to  condemn  every  thing  British,  and  to  applaud  every 
thing  American.  In  fact,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  many  enlight 
ened,  and  in  other  respects  liberal-minded  men,  either  from  early 
prejudice  or  from  a  secret  desire  to  pander  to  the  morbid  appetites 
of  the  less-informed  portion  of  the  American  people,  denounce  with 
great  severity  and  bitterness  any  thing  said  in  favor  of  the  state  of 
society,  the  institutions,  or  even  of  the  philanthropic  efforts  which 
have  been  or  are  being  made  by  either  the  government  or  people 
of  England.  This  habit  of  thinking  and  acting  is  unquestionably 
wrong.  A  man  or  a  people  of  true  magnanimity  will  always  do 
justice  even  to  an  enemy.  Why,  then,  should  we  be  unwilling  to 


0  PREFACE. 

render  justice  to  a  nation  with  whom  we  are  at  peace,  with  whom 
we  have  much  intercourse,  from  whom  we  derive  a  large  portion 
of  our  literature,  and  from  whom  we  are  descended  ? 

It  may,  however,  be  true,  that  from  the  treatment  which  Mr. 
Melhourn  received  in  this  his  native  country,  when  compared  with 
the  position  in  society  he  and  his  family  were  permitted  to  occupy 
upon  their  arrival  in  England,  his  mind  may  have  become  unrea 
sonably  biased  and  prejudiced  against  the  country  of  his  birth,  and 
in  favor  of  the  one  he  has  adopted.  It  is,  therefore,  hoped,  that 
the  candid  reader  will  make  due  allowance  for  the  circumstances 
under  which  Mr.  Melbourn  wrote. 


LIFE   OF   JULIUS  MELBOURN. 


I  WAS  born  a  slave,  on  a  small  plantation  about  ten  miles 
from  Raleigh  in  North  Carolina,  on  the  fourth  day  of  July, 
1790.  It  is  probable  that  the  accidental  circumstance  of  my 
coming  into  the  world  on  the  great  day  which  is  the  anniver 
sary  of  American  Independence,  occasioned  the  day  of  my 
birth  to  be  remembered  in  my  master's  family,  and  the  men 
tion  of  the  fact  in  my  presence,  after  I  arrived  at  a  sufficient 
degree  of  maturity  to  understand  what  was  passing,  has  en 
abled  me  to  be  certain  of  my  age.  In  this  I  differed  from 
many,  perhaps  the  majority  of  field-slaves,  who  are  quite 
ignorant  of  their  age. 

My  master,  Major  Johnson,  whose  Christian  name  I  am 
unable  to  give,  I  have  been  told  was  a  sutler  in  the  army 
when  Lord  Cornwallis,  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  over 
ran  the  Southern  states ;  and  occasionally  performed  some 
service  in  the  -quartermaster  department  in  the  American 
army.  He  saved  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  which  he  ac 
cumulated  during  the  war,  and  when  it  terminated,  he  invested 
the  most  of  it  in  public  securities  of  North  Carolina  and  other 
states,  for  two  shillings  and  sixpence  and  three  shillings  on 
the  pound,  which  securities,  after  the  adoption  of  the  federal 
constitution,  were  funded,  and  became  a  part  of  the  national 
debt.  These  securities  immediately  rose  to  their  par  value, 


8  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

and  shortly  afterwards  above  it,  so  that  what  Major  Johnson 
paid  two  shillings  and  sixpence  for,  while  in  his  hands  came 
to  be  worth  twenty  shillings,  and  eventually  twenty-two  and 
twenty-four  shillings.  He  claimed  that  he  had  been  a  revo 
lutionary  patriot  who  had  fought  and  bled  for  his  country,  and 
was  an  ardent  lover  of  liberty,  and  a  great  enemy  to  British 
tyranny ;  and,  from  his  real  or  pretended  military  services, 
he  was  known  as  Major  Johnson.  I  have,  it  is  true,  heard  it 
asserted  by  those  who  were  politically  opposed  to  him,  that  he 
carried  on  an  illicit  trade  with  the  enemy  during  the  war,  and 
in  return  for  their  favors  to  him,  that  he  occasionally  fur 
nished  them  with  information  respecting  the  movements  and 
strength  of  the  American  army,  and,  that  by  such  means  he 
was  enabled  to  purchase  goods,  which  he  sold  at  a  most  ex 
orbitant  price  to  his  American  brethren.  But  these  out 
givings  were  probably  slanders  emanating  from  personal 
envy  and  party  malice ;  for  he  obtained  a  pension  under  the 
law  of  the  United  States  passed  during  the  administration  of 
Mr.  Monroe,  which  he  enjoyed  till  his  death. 

My  mother  was  the  daughter  of  a  slave  of  Major  Johnson, 
and  was  born  a  year  or  two  before  the  war  broke  out  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  colonies.  She  was  a  mulatto,  and  as 
her  mother  was  entirely  black,  her  father  must  of  course 
have  been  a  white  man.  Major  Johnson  sold  my  grand 
mother  before  I  was  born,  but  kept  my  mother.  I  am  utterly 
ignorant  of  my  father,  but  am  certain  he  was  a  white  man, 
because,  although  my  mother,  as  I  have  stated,  was  a  mulat 
to,  I  am  as  white  as  most  men,  and  indeed  whiter  than  the 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese  ;  and  what  is  remarkable,  and  al 
most  unaccountable,  I  have  blue  eyes,  and  my  complexion  is 
what  would  generally  be  denominated  light.  The  only  evi 
dence  afforded  by  my  appearance  that  I  am  allied  to  the 
negro  race  is,  my  hair  is  curly,  or  rather  a  little  woolly,  and 
my  nose  is  more  flattened  than  is  generally  the  case  with  the 
nose  of  a  pure-blooded  European. 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  9 

It  is,  however,  certain,  that  I  am  one  quarter  African,  and 
although  this  portion  of  negro  blood  has  subjected  rne  to  much 
distress  and  suffering,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  that  blood 
is  much  dearer  to  me  than  all  the  Saxon  blood  that  runs  in 
my  veins.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  acdount  for  this  in  any 
other  way  than  by  referring  to  the  known  and  acknowledged 
fact,  that  mothers  always  feel  the  most  ardent  affection  for 
that  child  who  has  been  the  most  unfortunate,  and  who  has 
given  them  the  greatest  pain  and  anxiety. 

My  recollection  of  my  mother  is  very  indistinct.  She 
could  not  have  been  more  than  seventeen  or  eighteen  years 
old  when  I  was  born.  She  was  kept  by  my  master  as  a  field- 
slave,  and  bearing  a  child  when  she  was  so  young,  the  fatigue 
incident  to  her  employment,  and  the  scantiness  and  coarse- 
ness  of  her  fare,  rendered  her  so  feeble  that  she  was  incapa 
ble  of  performing  as  much  field  labor  as  was  required  of  her ; 
for  this  reason,  and  as  Major  Johnson  possessed  as  many 
house-slaves  as  he  needed,  he  determined  to  sell  her  to  a 
negro-buyer  who  was  purchasing  a  stock  of  slaves  to  send  to 
Georgia,  a  considerable  part  of  which  state  was  then  unculti 
vated,  but  which  at  that  time  was  rapidly  settling.  This 
created  a  great  demand  for  slaves  in  that  quarter,  and  raised 
the  price  of  them  in  the  Carolinas,  Virginia,  and  Maryland. 
The  day  my  mother  was  separated  from  me  is  among  my 
earliest  and  most  painful  recollections.  I  was  then  about 
three  years  old,  yet  I  remember  the  dreadful  sensations  I  ex- 
perienced,  when  she  wildly,  for  the  last  time,  pressed  me  to 
her  bosom  ;  and  can  almost  now  feel  her  scalding  tears  as 
they  fell  upon  my  face.  In  a  moment  she  was  forced  from 
me,  shrieking  and  in  the  madness  of  her  grief  tearing  her 
hair ;  but  forthwith  her  master  ordered  her  manacled.  I 
can  never  forget  the  chill  of  horror  that  thrilled  through  my 
veins  when  I  heard  the  clink  of  the  hammer  used  in  riveting 
the  rings  which  enclosed  her  wrists  and  fastened  them  to  a 
bar  of  iron.  My  poor  mother  was  soon  inarched  off  with  a- 


10  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

gang  of  slaves,  and  I  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  her  since. 
Such  was  the  feebleness  of  her  constitution,  that  I  solace  my 
self  with  the  reflection  that,  in  all  human  probability,  she  must 
soon  have  perished  in  the  damp  and  chilly  rice-fields  of 
Georgia. 

I  lived  in  Mr.  Johnson's  family  till  I  was  five  years  old, 
when  Mrs.  Melbourn,  a  widow  lady  who  resided  in  Raleigh, 
purchased  me  ;  and  to  her  I  am  indebted  for  my  education 
and  liberty,  and  every  thing  that  is  valuable  in  life. 

Mrs.  Melbourn  was  the  widow  of  Lieut.  Melbourn,  of  the 
British  navy,  who  was  killed  in  the  great  battle  between 
Admiral  Graves  and  Count  de  Grasse,  which  occurred  short 
ly  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  Mrs.  Melbourn 
before  her  marriage  had  a  small  estate,  which  was  secured  to 
her  in  the  English  funds,  amounting  to  £3000  sterling  ;  and 
after  her  husband's  death  she  received  a  pension,  during  her 
life,  of  £200.  She  was  an  educated  woman,  and  very  pious, 
being  a  zealous  member  of  the  Methodist  Society  ;  and  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  the  illiberal  treatment  which  that 
sect,  in  common  with  other  dissenters,  received  from  the  gov 
ernment,  induced  her  to  turn  her  attention  to  America,  and 
produced  in  her  mind  a  train  of  reflection  upon  the  civil  and 
religious  rights  of  man.  Mrs.  Melbourn  had  but  one  child, 
and  that  was  a  son,  who,  at  he  death  of  his  father,  was  about 
seven  years  old  ;  and  she  was  so  pleased  with  the  sentiments 
put  forth  on  the  subject  of  the  rights  of  man  by  the  American 
orators  and  statesmen,  at  the  commencement  and  during  the 
American  revolution,  that  she  determined  to  remove  to  Ameri 
ca,  and  educate  her  son  in  the  United  States.  She  therefore, 
within  a  few  years  after  the  death  of  Lieut.  Melbourn,  made 
such  arrangements  of  her  pecuniary  affairs  in  England,  as 
enabled  her  to  put  in  execution  her  scheme.  There  were 
few  persons  in  America  to  whom  she  was  known.  She  had, 
however,  a  slight  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Gale,  a  printer,  who 
emigrated  from  England,  and  who  then  had  recently  com- 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  1  1 

menced  the  publication  of  a  newspaper  in  North  Carolina.* 
This  circumstance  probably  induced  her  to  go  to  North  Caro 
lina,  and  take  up  her  residence  at  Raleigh. 

On  a  visit  to  Mrs.  Johnson,  when  I  was,  as  I  have  stated, 
about  five  years  old,  Mrs.  Mel  bourn  saw  me,  and  was  so 
pleased  with  me  that  she  purchased  me  of  Major  Johnson. 
Her  religious  and  political  principles  rendered  her  zealously 
opposed  to  slavery,  and  she  purchased  me  with  the  intention 
of  causing  me  to  be  educated  and  giving  me  my  freeaom. 
Under  her  charge  I  was  well  provided  for,  and  received  a 
good  English  education.  She  brought  with  her  from  Eng 
land  Lieut.  Melbourn's  private  library,  which  was  remarka 
bly  well  selected.  It  contained,  among  other  valuable  books, 
all  the  British  classics,  an  excellent  collection  of  Ancient  and 
Modern  History,  and  the  best  works  of  fiction  then  extant. 
To  this  library  I  had  free  access,  and  from  it  I  derived  much 
amusement,  and  I  hope  some  profit. 

When  I  was  ten  years  old,  Mrs.  Melbourn  sent  me  to  a 
select  school  in  the  vicinity  of  Raleigh  ;  but,  on  account  of 
the  African  blood  in  my  veins,  I  was  not  permitted  by  the 
managers  of  the  school  to  remain  there  long  ;  so  that  the  edu 
cation  I  afterwards  acquired,  was  obtained  from  the  instruc 
tions  of  a  Methodist  preacher,  who  was  an  almost  constant 
inmate  of  our  family,  and  from  Lieut.  Melbourn's  library. 

Mrs.  Melbourn's  son,  whose  name  was  Edward,  when  I 

•*  was  little  more  than  twelve  years  old,  was  sent  to  finish  his 

education  at  Princeton  College,  in  New  Jersey  ;   and  as  Mrs. 

^  M.  kept  an  English  man-servant,  I  had  abundance  of  leisure 

to  pursue  my  studies  ;   and  the  boys  of  my  age  declining  to 

associate  with  me  on  such  terms  of  equality  as  I  thought  I 

was  entitled  to,  it  is  probable  I  spent  less  time  in  the  pursuit 

*  Joseph  Gale,  Esq.,  who  has  so  long,  and  with  such  distinguished 
ability,  been  the  senior  editor  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  is  probably 
the  son  of  this  gentleman. — Editor. 

I 


12  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

of  amusement,  and  more  hours  in  study,  than  I  should  have 
done  had  I  been  treated  bf'those  -white  children  of  my  own 
age  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  my  association  with  them 
agreeable. 

There  resided  near  Raleigh  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of 
Boyd,  then  somewhat  advanced  in  years,  who  was  the  own 
er  of  a  considerable  estate,  and  -^vhor  during  the  first  part 
of  the  existence  of  the  state  government,  had  been  an  active 
and  influential  politician,  but  had,  for  several  years  before 
the  time  of  which  I  speak,  retired  from  all  public  employ 
ment.*  His  wealth,  his  public  services,  and,  more  than  all, 
the  excellent  qualities  of  his  head  and  heart,  caused  him  to 
be  universally  respected  and  beloved. 

Col.  Boyd's  wife  had  died  many  years  before,  and  had  left 
him  an  only  child,  a  daughter,  who  was  now  about  fifteen 
years  of  age,  and  a  most  lovely  girl.  I  have  no  talent  at 
describing  the  persons  of  individuals  ;  and  if  I  had,  beautiful 
females  have  been  so  often  described  by  writers,  (and  really,  as 
they  appear  in  books,  they  all  seem  to  me  to  look  very  much 
alike,)  that  if  I  could  describe  well,  I  would  not  take  up  the 
time  of  the  reader  in  a*n  attempt  to  draw  the  portrait  of  Laura 
Boyd.  It  must  suffice  to  say,  that  she  was  beautiful,  and 
that  the  elegance  and  purity  of  her  mind  increased  the  inter 
est  which  was  excited  in  her  favor  by  her  personal  charms. 

Edward  Melbourn,  when  at  home  during  his  college  vaca 
tions,  spent  much  of  his  time  in  hunting  and  fishing  with  Col. 
Boyd,  and  soon  became  with  him  a  great  favorite.  The 
lively  conversation  and  fascinating  address  of  Edward  gradu 
ally  inspired  the  old  gentleman  with  that  fondness  for  him 
which  is  not  unfrequently  produced  in  the  minds  of  elderly 
men  for  young  men  who  happen  to  please  them.  In  the 


*  During  the  revolutionary  war  he  commanded  a  regiment  of  militia, 
and  on  several  occasions  distinguished  himself  for  his  bravery,  and  as  a 
judicious  military  officer. 


LIFE    OF    JULILS    MEDBOURN.  13 

mean  time  an  attachment  grew  up  between  Edward  and 
Laura  Boyd,  which  resulted  in%  matrimonial  engagement, 
which  Col.  Boyd  consented  should  be  consummated  as  soon 
as  Edward  should  complete  his  collegiate  studies  and  be  ad 
mitted  to  practice  in  one  of  the  learned  professions.  In  one 
year  from  that  time  he  graduated  at  Princeton  College,  and 
was  gratified  by  having  conferred  on  him  the  highest  honors 
of  his  class.  Upon  leaving  college  he  returned  to  Raleigh, 
and  lingered  there  nearly  the  whole  of  the  following  year, 
enjoying  the  society  of  his  mother  and  Col.  Boyd,  and  fas 
cinated  by  the  charms  of  the  lovely  daughter.  Roused,  at 
length,  by  the  consideration  that  his  time  was  wasting  away, 
and  that  before  he  could  settle  in  life  he  must  acquire  a  know 
ledge  of  a  profession,  he  tore  himself  from  these  interesting 
and  beloved  friends,  and  went  to  Charleston  in  South  Caro 
lina,  where  he  commenced  the  study  of  law,  in  the  office  and 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Desausseaur,  an  eminent  lawyer, 
who  has  since  held,  with  distinguished  reputation,  a  high  ju 
dicial  station  in  that  state. 

Young  Melbourn  remained  in  Mr.  Desausseaur's  office  until 
he  completed  his  professional  studies ;  but  on  the  day  of  his 
examination,  at  a  convivial  dinner-party,  an  altercation  be 
tween  him  and  a  fellow-student  occurred,  which  resulted  in  a 
challenge  to  a  duel,  and  in  the  combat  which  ensued  Edward 
was  unfortunately  slain.  The  news  of  this  sad  catastrophe 
reached  Mrs.  Melbourn  on  the  very  day  he  was  expected 
home. 

He  had  written  to  his  mother  that  he  should  arrive  at  home 
on*the  first  day  of  November.  The  evening  of  that  day  Col 
onel  Boyd  and  his  daughter  called  on  Mrs.  Melbourn ;  he 
was  in  high  spirits,  and  felicitated  himself  on  the  agreeable 
surprise  Edward  would  experience  on  seeing  the  improve 
ments  he  had  made  the  preceding  summer,  in  his  mansion- 
house,  his  garden,  &c.,  and  the  addition  he  had  made  to  his 
pack  of  hounds.  Laura  was  silent,  but  her  fine  blue  eyes 

2 


14  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 


spoke  hope  and  joy.  It  was  one  of  the  fine  moonlight  eve 
nings  of  a  Southern  autumn.  I  do  not  believe  the  celebrated 
blue  skies  of  Italy  excel  in  beauty  that  of  the  Carolinas. 
Mrs.  Melbourn  invited  her  visiters  'to  take  a  walk  on  the 
lawn  connected  with  the  garden.  She  seemed  almost  gay, 
and  as  she  viewed  the  scene  before  her,  she  repeated  in  a  low 
voice  to  Laura,  those  beautiful  lines  of  Milton — 

"  These  are  thy  glorious  works,  Parent  of  good !  Almighty, 
This  thine  universal  frame,  thus  wondrous  fair, 
Thyself  how  wondrous  then — unspeakable  !" 

While  the  party  were  thus  happy  on  the  green,  I  heard  a 
knock  at  the  front  door,  and  hastened  to  open  it.  A  stranger 
was  standing  there  who  inquired  for  Mrs.  Melbourn.  I  an 
swered  she  was  at  home  and  I  would  call  her.  With  evident 
marks  of  agitation  he  inquired  if  she  had  company.  I  re 
plied  a  neighboring  gentleman  and  his  daughter  were  with 
her.  "I  pray  you,"  said  the  stranger,  "not  to  think  me  im 
pertinent,  but  for  particular  reasons  beg  you  to  tell  me  the 
name  of  the  gentleman."  I  was  surprised  at  his  request,  but 
more  at  his  manner,  which  was  embarrassed  and  confused. 
Upon  learning  that  it  was  Colonel  Boyd,  he  requested  that 
the  colonel  might  be  informed  a  gentleman  wished  to  spealf. 
with  him.  The  colonel,  on  receiving  the  message,  immedi 
ately  came  into  the  house,  and  saluted  the  gentleman,  who 
was  still  standing  at  the  door.  They  stepped  a  few  paces 
aside,  and  conversed  together  in  a  low  voice  for  the  space  of 
two  or  three  minutes.  Colonel  Boyd  then  turned,  with  a  face 
pale  as  death,  and  I  heard  him/say:  "I  cannot;  upon  my 
soul  I  cannot  tell  her  this  dreadful  news."  The  thought 
like  a  flash  of  lightning  came  into  my  mind  that  Edward  was 
dead.  Colonel  Boyd,  however,  in  a  moment  seemed  to  be 
more  calm  and  collected,  and  walked  into  the  garden  with  the 
stranger,  whom  he  introduced  to  Mrs.  Melbourn.  "Mr. 
Warren,"  said  he,  in  a  solemn  voice,  "  brings  sad  news  from 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOUKN.  15 

Edward."  "Merciful  God!"  said  rny  mistress,  "  what  of 
my  son  ?"  The  stranger  hesitated,  and  Colonel  Boyd  stood 
silent  and  immoveable  as  a  block  of  marble.  Mrs.  Melbourn 
clasped  her  hands  in  deep  agony.  "  He  is  dead,"  said  she, 
"  and  you  dare  not  tell  me  !"  They  continued  silent.  My 
mistress  fell  back  on  a  seat  which  was  near  her.  In  the 
mean  time,  Laura,  of  whom  no  notice  had  been  taken,  fell 
prostrate  on  the  ground  ;  her  father  sprang  to  her  and  raised 
her  up  in  his  arms.  She  was  apparently  lifeless.  I  ran  for 
water  and  gave  it  to  her  father,  but  it  was  some  time  before 
she  manifested  any  signs  of  life.  My  mistress  was  still  seat 
ed,  but  she  seemed  like  a  statue  ;  her  eyes  appeared  glazed 
and  immoveable.  I  knelt  before  her,  took  one  of  her  hands, 
and  implored  her  to  speak  to  me.  I  reminded  her  that  afflic 
tions  were  ordered  by  a  kind  Providence  for  wise  purposes, 
and  entreated  her,  in  this  sudden  and  unspeakable  calamity, 
to  look  to  Him,  who,  I  had  often  heard  her  say,  would  never 
leave  nor  forsake  us.  A  flood  of  tears  came  to  her  relief.  I 
said,  "  My  dear  mistress,  your  grief  and  the  cause  of  it  is 
great,  but  do  not  despair.  God  is  just.  There  must  be  con 
solation,  there  must  be  good  days  yet  in  store  for  so  good,  so 
benevolent,  so  holy  a  being  as  you  are."  "  Never — never  on 
earth,"  said  she,  "  my  last  prop,  my  only  earthly  hope  is 
gone,  and  I  must  look  for  quiet  in  the  grave,  and  comfort  only 
in  heaven." 

I  was  myself  deeply  affected  by  the  distress  of  this  amiable 
and  excellent  woman.  Besides,  the  death  of  Edward  was  to 
me  like  the  untimely  loss  of  an  elder  brother  tenderly  be 
loved  ;  and  my  own  private  grief  was  rendered  more  poignant 
when  I  afterwards  learned  that  the  cause  of  the  fatal  en 
counter  was,  that  Edward's  antagonist  reproached  him  with 
the  conduct  of  his  mother,  for  bringing  me  up  and  educating 
me  as  a  gentleman,  who  was  born  a  slave. 

Mrs.  Melbourn  for  a  long  time  after  the  death  of  her  son 
seemed  prostrated  by  the  affliction.  Her  grief,  though  silent, 


16  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

was  profound,  and  her  health  seemed  sinking  under  her  distress 
of  mind.  I  much  feared  that  her  corporeal  powers  were  too 
feeble  to  resist  the  shock  ;  indeed  I  think  she  would  have 
sunk  under  it,  had  it  not  been  for  the  consolations  of  religion, 
and  her  firm,  unshaken  faith  that  her  heavenly  Father  would  in 
the  end  order  all  things  for  the  best  and  for  the  greatest  good. 
Her  faith  and  resignation  to  the.  will  of  God  were  greatly  as 
sisted  by  the  advice  and  exhortations  of  Mr.  Smith,  a  metho- 
dist  preacher,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  spent  much  of  his 
time  at  our  house,  and  who  was  not  only  a  zealous  Christian 
but  a  very  judicious  and  discreet  man. 

Colonel  Boyd  felt  the  death  of  Edward  as  an  affliction  the 
most  painful.  This  young  man  had  become  connected  with 
all  his  plans  for  the  future  enjoyment  of  life.  His  untimely 
death  had  disconcerted  all  those  schemes,  and  had  left  the  old 
veteran  depressed  with  a  feeling  of  utter  and  gloomy  solitude. 
He  often  said  he  felt  that  he  resembled  a  dry  tree  standing 
alone  in  the  field,  exposed  to  be  prostrated  by  every  gust  of 
wind.  The  deep  and  corroding  melancholy  of  Laura  added 
to  the  Colonel's  depression  of  spirits,  and  his  anxiety  was  in 
creased  by  the  apprehension  that  her  constitution  was  incapa 
ble  of  sustaining  her  against  the  sea  of  troubles  with  which 
she  was  overwhelmed.  Laura  perceived  the  anxiety  of  her 
father,  and  became  alarmed  at  his  condition.  She  justly  sus 
pected  that  much  of  his  depression  was  owing  to  his  solici 
tude  for  her,  and,  with  the  hope  of  saving  the  life  of  her  fa 
ther,  she  endeavored  to  appear  to  forget  the  death  of  her 
lover.  Time  and  these  laudable  efforts  gradually  mellowed 
the  grief  of  the  one,  and  diminished  the  gloom  and  despond 
ency  of  the  other. 

In  the  mean  while  I  pursued  my  studies  of  general  litera 
ture  ;  and  three  years  more  passed  away  without  the  occur- 
renco  of  any  incident  .worth  relating. 

In  the  winter  of  1806,  the  good  Mrs.  Melbourn  procured 
the  consent  of  the  proper  authorities,  and  the  deed  for  my 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  17 

emancipation  was  duly  executed  by  her.  She  did  this,  as 
I  afterwards  learned,  to  guard  against  any  legal  objection 
which  might  be  raised,  after  her  death,  against  the*provisions 
contained  in  her  will  for  my  emancrpation  ;  and  because  Mr. 
Smith  had  suggested  to  her,  that  by  the  law  of  North  Caro 
lina  I  was,  while  a  slave,  personal  property — that  is  to  say,  a 
mere  thing — and  would  be  adjudged  incapable  of  taking  by 
bequest  or  devise  any  property  she  might  think  proper  to  be 
queath  to  me. 

During  the  three  years  last  mentioned,  Mrs.  Melbourn  sent 
me  frequently  with  messages  to  Laura  Boyd  and  her  father. 
In  the  course  of  these  visits  I  became  acquainted  with  a  mu 
latto  girl  by  the  name  of  Maria,  a  slave  of  Colonel  Boyd, 
whom  he  had  given  to  his  daughter  as  a  dressing-maid. 
Maria  was  born  the  property  of  Colonel'  Boyd,  and  in  his 
house.  Her  mother  was  a  favorite  house-slave  ;  she  did  not 
live  long  after  the  birth  of  Maria,  who  was  her  only  child. 
Maria  had  been  tenderly  brought  up,  and  taught  to  read  and 
write,  and  the  use  of  the  needle. 

Her  mother,  though  a  slave,  was  a  quadroon,  and  her  fa 
ther  was  a  white  man.  Maria  therefore  was  allied  to  the 
African  race  only  in  the  eighth  degree.  I  hardly  need  men 
tion  that  the  difference  in  appearance  between  her  and  those  of 
pure  Saxon  blood  was  so  slight  as  to  be  almost  imperceptible. 
Indeed  it  was  quite  so  to  an  ordinary  observer.  Yet  she  was  a 
slave — a  thing — an  article  of  merchandise ! — by  the  laws  of  the 
free,  democratic  state  of  North  Carolina! !  She  was  about  fif 
teen  years  old  when  I  first  became  acquainted  with  her. 

I  am  aware  that  many  persons  in  America,  some  of  whom 
perhaps  may  honor  me  with  a  perusal  of  this  history  of  my 
life,  may  feel  disgusted  and  indignant  at  an  attempt  to  describe 
a  female  who  was  tainted  with  African  blood,  as  beautiful. 
But  nevertheless  I  am  sure  there  are  those, 'both  in  England  and 
the  United  States,  who  claim  to  be  competent  judges,  who  admit 
that  the  most  beautiful  human  forms  they  ever  saw  were  mu- 

2 


18  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

latto  girls,  and  especially  those  of  Richmond,  Va.  That  Maria 
was  one  of  this  description,  all  who  ever  saw  her  admitted .  Her 
tall,  erect  figure,  her  sparkling  eye,  her  polished  high  fore 
head,  the  intellectual,  the  kind  and  affectionate  expression  of 
her  countenance,  her  graceful  movements,  and  enchanting 
smile,  were  to  me  irresistibly  fascinating.  I  first  admired 
her  for  the  charms  of  her  person,  but  as  my  acquaintance 
and  my  intimacy  with  her  advanced,  I  loved  her  for  the 
qualities  of  her  heart  and  the  superiority  of  her  mind.  Maria 
could  not,  and  indeed  did  not,  have  any  consciousness  of  her 
condition  as  a  slave.  She  knew,  it  is  true,  that  she  belonged 
to  Laura  Boyd,  but  her  situation  with  that  young  lady  was 
the  precise  situation  she  would  have  chosen,  if  the  whole 
world  had  been  open  to  her  choice.  She  was,  practically,  as 
free  as  the  mountain  deer.  Laura  required  no  more  of  her 
than  she  would  have  done  had  her  actions  depended  entirely 
on  her  own  volition,  and  indeed  she  was  wholly  unconscious 
of  doing  any  thing  or  remaining  anywhere  by  compulsion. 
In  the  foil  of  1807,  I  communicated  my  feelings  and  wishes 
to  Maria,  who,  being  a  slave,  of  course  had  no  acquaintance 
with  educated  and  well-bred  men,  and  her  own  education  and 
taste  prevented  her  from  the  least  association  with  the  slaves 
or  the  free  colored  young  men  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
manners  of  this  latter  class  were  rude  and  vulgar,  and  most 
of  them  were  licentious  and  vicious  in  their  habits,  I  was 
the  only  civil  male  person,  except  the  venerable  Colonel 
Boyd,  with  whom  Maria  had  ever  conversed,  and  therefore 
she  was  pleased  with  me. 

When  I  made  known  my  attachment  to  her,  she  heard  me 
with  cordial  delight,  and  confessed  her  heart  had  long  been 
mine.  She  said  she  would  ask  her  mistress  to  consent  to  her 
marriage  with  me.  "  But,"  said  Maria,  hesitating,  "  what  if 
she  or  my  .old  master  should  refuse  ?"  A  livid  paleness  over 
spread  her  cheek,  and  apparently,  for  the  first  time  in  her 
life,  poor  Maria  felt  that  she  was  not  her  own.  Now,  for  the 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  19 

first  time,  the  degradation  and  misery  of  slavery  presented 
themselves  to  her  disturbed  and  agitated  mind.  After  a  mo 
ment's  silence  she  added,  "  But  they  are  too  good,  too  kind — 
I  am  sure  they  will  not  refuse." 

In  fact,  Maria  did  not  over-estimate  the  kindness  of  Colonel 
Boyd  and  her  mistress ;  they  readily  granted  their  consent, 
but  insisted  that  the  marriage  should  be  postponed  until  I 
should  be  twenty-one  years  of  age.  This  was  but  reasonable, 
and,  although  sorely  against  my  inclination,  I  was  fain  to  ac 
quiesce  in  this  decision,  mainly,  I  confess,  because  I  saw  no 
way  of  successfully  resisting  it.  I  was  then  seventeen  years 
old. 

From  this  time  I  was  a  frequent  visiter  at  Colonel  Boyd's, 
and  I  was  uniformly  kindly  received  by  that  gentleman  and 
his  amiable  daughter,  and  treated,  notwithstanding  my  Afri 
can  blood,  more  like  a  relative  of  the  family  than  a  servant 
of  a  neighboring  friend.  The  countenance  of  Maria  always 
brightened  at  my  approach,  and,  when  with  her,  I  forgot 
every  other  human  being.  Thus  passed  two  of  the  happiest 
years  of  my  life.  Alas,  those  blissful  days  passed  rapidly 
away,  to  be  succeeded  by  years  of  suffering  and  misery.  I 
perceived  with  deep  regret  and  painful  apprehension  that  the 
health  of  Mrs.  Melbourn  was  gradually  declining.  The  fer 
vor  of  her  piety  increased,  but  the  wound  produced  by  the 
death  of  her  son,  instead  of  being  healed  by  time,  was  can 
kering  and  corroding  her  heart's  core.  Although  endued 
with  holy  resignation  and  heavenly  hope,  her  nervous  system 
was  too  susceptible  to  endure  the  sight  of  an  article  of  cloth 
ing  that  had  been  worn  by  Edward,  or  even  a  book  which 
he  had  been  fond  of  reading. 

In  the  summer  of  1809,  a  young  gentleman  from  Norfolk, 
Virginia,  by  the  name  of  Alexander  St.  John,  stopped  a  few  days 
at  Raleigh  and  paid  a  visit  to  Colonel  Boyd.  His  father  was  a 
man  of  wealth  and  respectability,  and,  with  Colonel  Boyd,  during 
the  Revolution  had  served  in  the  army  of  General  Washington, 


20  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

and  were  both  personally  known  and  highly  esteemed  by  that 
great  and  good  man.  After  the  termination  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  Colonel  Boyd  and  Major  St.  John  still  continued  their 
friendly  intercourse,  and  their  friendship  increased  with  their 
age.  This  intimacy  afforded  them  the  greater  pleasure  as 
they  belonged  to  the  same  political  party,  both  being  Federal 
ists  of  the  old  school.  In  the  preceding  autumn  Major  St. 
John  had  died  suddenly,  leaving  the  whole  of  his  large  es 
tate  to  Alexander,  his  only  surviving  child. 

Colonel  Boyd  received  the  visit  from  the  son  of  his  old 
friend  with  great  pleasure,  and  at  his  persuasion,  Mr.  St. 
John  was  induced  to  remain  longer  in  our  neighborhood  than 
he  had  originally  intended.  He  at  times  showed  some  traits 
of  libertinism  in  his  character,  and  talked  more  about  games 
and  horseracing  than  was  agreeable  to  Colonel  Boyd,  who, 
speaking  of  him  to  Laura  in  my  presence,  after  expressing 
his  dislike  to  those  little  foibles,  as  he  called  them,  said 
his  dislike  was  perhaps  occasioned  by  the  circumstance  that 
he  had  become  old  and  had  lost  a  relish  for  pleasures  which 
might  have  charmed  him  when  young.  "  That  may  be  so," 
said  Laura,  "  but  I  am  sure  my  father  was  never  charmed 
with  vicious  pleasures."  "  I  do  not  think,"  said  her  father, 
more  gravely,  "  that  an  indulgence  in  vice,  either  by  young 
or  old,  deserves  the  name  of  pleasure."  "  I  wish  all  the 
world  were  of  your  opinion,"  said  Laura.  "  There  is  cer 
tainly  a  great  difference,"  continued  she,  after  a  short  pause, 
"  between  Mr.  St.  John  and" — she  sighed — "  many  of  our 
North  Carolina  young  gentlemen." 

Alexander  St.  John  had  been  brought  up  as  a  rich  man's 
son,  and  was  in  fact  a  spoiled  child.  His  father  had  made 
liberal  provision  for  his  education,  but  he,  by  one  excuse  and 
another,  avoided  any  serious  application  to  study,  and  like 
most  young  men  of  fortune  at  that  day,  in  Virginia,  had  im 
bibed  a  hearty  contempt  for  the  learned  professions,  and 
indeed  for  all  classes  of  business  men.  From  habit  and  taste 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  21 

he  had  become  fond  of  horseracing,  gambling,  and  at  times 
a  very  free  indulgence  in  drinking.  Although  he  liked  rows 
and  was  sometimes  engaged  in  brawls,  he  was  considered 
what  was  denominated  a  clever  fellow.  He  was  very  tena 
cious  of  the  word  called  honor,  and  was  ready  at  all  times  to 
gamble,  drink,  laugh,  or  fight  with  you. 

This  young  man  professed  a  violent  attachment  to  Laura, 
and  solicited  the  consent  of  her  father  to  pay  his  addresses  to 
her.  Laura  learned  the  proposal  with  pain  and  regret ;  the 
more  so,  because  she  perceived  her  father  was  inclined  to 
favor  the  wishes  of  Mr.  St.  John.  She  knew  he  would  on  no 
•account  urge  her  to  do  an  act  entirely  contrary  to  her  incli 
nation  ;  his  only  object  was  her  happiness,  and  that  very 
knowledge  rendered  her  extremely  unwilling  to  refuse  her 
consent.  But  in  the  whole  deportment  of  Mr.  St.  John  she 
thought  she  discovered  a  total  disregard  to  religion  and  virtue, 
an  air  of  libertinism,  and  a  careless  assurance  nearly  amount 
ing  to  impudence,  very  revolting  to  her  feelings.  She  con 
fessed  these  impressions  to  her  father,  which  he  heard  with 
regret.  He  replied,  that  she  was  the  only  treasure  left  to 
him  on  earth  ;  that  on  her  happiness  depended  his  own  ;  he 
knew  she  had  once  loved  an  object  worthy  of  her,  but  he  was 
no  more  :  would  it  be  in  accordance  with  her  duty  towards 
society,  would  it  be  wise  to  bury  herself  at  her  age  ?  Mr. 
St.  John  belonged  to  a  family  of  great  respectability,  of  un 
stained  honor,  and  large  estate.  The  latter  circumstance  he 
cared  little  about,  as  had  been  proved  to  Laura  on  another 
occasion,  but  it  was  a  circumstance  which  ought  to  have  some 
weight  in  deciding  upon  Mr.  St.  John's  proposal,  because  an 
increase  of  wealth  would  enable  them  to  be  more  useful  to 
their  fellow- beings.  "  You  are  already,"  said  he,  "  near  the 
end  of  the  spring-time  of  life,  and,  my  dear  child,  I  will  con 
fess  to  you  that  I  am  unwilling  that  my  family  should  end 
with  you  and  me."  Here  his  voice  trembled,  and  Laura  per 
ceived  that  he  had  touched  a  string  which  vibrated  through 


22  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

his  heart.  She  was  much  distressed,  and  begged  her  lather 
not  to  press  her  further  at  that  time,  but  to  advise  Mr.  St. 
John  to  return  to  Virginia,  and  she  would  give  the  subject 
the  consideration  which  its  importance  demanded,  and 'which 
her  love  and  duty  to  her  kind  good  father  required.  "  Be  it 
so,"  said  he,  pressing  her  hand,  "  but  do  not  make  yourself 
unhappy  to  please  rne." 

This  last  remark  sunk  deep  into  the  heart  of  Laura.  Could 
she  act  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  her  only  parent,  and  that 
parent  so  kind,  so  affectionate  ?  St.  John  was  extremely 
pressing  for  a  more  favorable  answer,  and  not  obtaining  it, 
prepared  reluctantly  to  return  to  Virginia. 

Soon  after  this  conversation  Mr.  St.  John  made  his  ad 
dresses  to  Laura,  and  solicited  her  hand  in  marriage.  She 
heard  him  with  deep  and  painful  regret ;  nevertheless,  the 
ardent  solicitude  of  her  father  that  she  should  be  settled  in 
life  finally  wrung  from  her  a  reluctant  consent,  but  that  con 
sent  she  did  not  yield  until  she  had  consulted  Mrs.  Melbourn, 
who  earnestly  advised  her  that  her  duty  to  society  and  to  her 
father  required  her  to  accede  to  the  proposals  of  Mr.  St. 
John  ;  and  she  soon  after  became  his  wife. 

It  was  now  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1809  ;  and  as  the 
cold  weather  approached,  Mrs.  Melbourn,  who  had  been 
gradually  sinking,  in  consequence  of  a  melancholy  which 
followed  the  death  of  her  son,  and  which  could  not  be  over 
come,  was  attacked  with  a  cough  of  a  character  evidently  in- 
dicating  that  her  lungs  were  affected. 

It  is  a  singular  feature  in  the  disease  called  consumption, 
that  as  the  body  declines  the  mind  becomes  more  vigorous,  or 
nither  the  intellectual  vision  becomes  clearer,  and  the  mental 
powers  glow  with  greater  and  greater  brilliancy  till  the  lamp 
of  life  is  extinguished.  That  was  peculiarly  the  case  with 
Mrs.  Melbourn.  Indeed,  her  tone  of  mind,  by  which  I  mean 
her  fortitude,  evidently  increased  as  death  approached.  Al 
though  formerly  she  could  not  endure  the  sight  of  any  thing 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  23 

which  had  belonged  to  Edward,  now  she  directed  his  wearing 
apparel  to  be  brought  into  her  room,  and  also  his  letters  to  be 
read  to  her,  which  she  had  carefully  preserved.  She  heard 
them  with  composure  and  pleasure.  I  could  see  sometimes, 
when  reading  those  letters  which  contained  ardent  expres 
sions  of  filial  affection,  a  tear  start  in  her  eye ;  but  it  seemed 
her  main  reason  for  calling  for  these  letters  was  to  prepare 
her  mind  for  that  converse  which  she  hoped  soon  to  enjoy 
with  her  beloved  child  in  another  world. 

One  day,  and  it  was  less  than  a  week  before  her  death,  she 
called  me  to  her  bedside,  and  motioned  to  the  servants  to  re 
tire.  She  said  she  had  but  few  words  to  say  to  me,  and  these 
related  only  to  worldly  concerns.  She  wished  me  to  marry 
Maria,  and  trusted  I  would  do  so.  Although  both  Colonel 
Boyd  and  Laura  had  assured  her  that  Maria  should  be  eman 
cipated  at  any  time  when  it  was  thought  best,  and  certainly 
when  she  was  married  to  me,  the  new  relations  caused  by 
the  marriage  of  Laura  to  a  stranger  might  produce  obstacles 
not  now  anticipated,  and  she  had  thought  it  better  to  provide 
in  her  will  the  means  of  paying  for  Maria's  freedom,  and 
which  Mr.  Smith,  who  was  her  executor,  was  authorized  to 
pay  to  me  on  my  becoming  twenty-one  years  of/ige.  "  The 
principal  part  of  the  legacy  I  intend  for  you,"  said  she,  "  is 
left  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Smith,  as  a  trustee,  unt,il  you  arrive 
at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years." 

She  died  four  days  after.     A  great  poet  has  said,  that 

"The  death-bed  of  the  just  is  yet  undrawn 
By  mortal  hand :  it  merits  a  divine." 

If  Mrs.  Melbourn  in  her  lifetime  exhibited,  as  in  truth  she 
did,  the  beauties  of  the  Christian  religion,  her  death  evidently 
proved  its  triumph.  She  was  calm,  self-collected,  and  pos 
sessed  in  full  perfection  her  mental  faculties,  and  her  eyes 
shone  with  more  than  usual  lustre.  In  her  last  moments  she 
took  the  hand  of  Mr.  Smith  ;  "  I  knew."  said  she,  "  that  my 


24  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

Heavenly  Father  would  not  forsake  me  in  this  hour."     Her 
last  words  were,  "  My  husband — my  Edward — I  come  !" 

"  Sweet  peace  and  humble  hope  and  heavenly  joy 
Divinely  beamed  on  her  exalted  soul, 
And  crowned  her  for  the  skies  with 
Incommunicable  lustre  bright" 

After  her  death  and  burial  Mr.  Smith  produced  her  will. 
She  bequeathed  an  annuity  of  8100  to  each  of  he.r  English 
servants.  She  gave  her  watch  and  Bible  to  Laura ;  to  the 
Methodist  society  $1000,  to  be  paid  as  Mr.  Smith  should  di 
rect  ;  and  she  bequeathed  to  me  the  residue  of  all  her  estate, 
amounting  in  value,  as  I  afterwards  ascertained,  to  a  little 
more  than  $20,000.  Of  this  sum  Mr.  Smith  was  immediate 
ly  to  pay  me  $400  to  purchase  the  freedom  of  Maria,  if  it 
should  be  necessary  to  pay  for  her  freedom,  and  a  small  sum 
annually  for  my  expenses  until  I  should  be  twenty-five  years 
old,  when  the  whole  amount  was  to  be  delivered  over  to  me. 

Since  the  marriage  of  Mr.  St.  John  with  Laura  he  had 
claimed  the  house  of  Colonel  Boyd  as  his  home  ;  and  he  did, 
in  fact,  spend  the  winter  and  early  part  of  the  spring  of  1810 
there,  but  in  May  he  went  back  to  Virginia  to  superintend, 
as  he  said,  his  estate  in  the  neighborhood  of  Norfolk.  Laura 
seemed  more  dejected  after  her  marriage  than  before  ;  and 
neither  the  entreaties  of  her  husband  or  her  father  could  in 
duce  her  to  mingle  in  society  more  than  barely  to  avoid 
treating  with  apparent  neglect  the  friends  of  the  family.  St. 
John  during  the  winter  had  shown  some  slight  indications 
that  he  had  not  abandoned  his  habits  of  dissipation,  and  I 
thought  there  appeared  a  want  of  cordial  good-feeling  towards 
him  on  the  part  of  Colonel  Boyd.  When  in  company  with 
St.  John,  there  was  a  formality  and  a  constraint  in  his  manner 
not  exactly  suited  to  the  relations  existing  between  them.  I 
observed,  too,  that  Maria  appeared  unhappy,  and  I  sought  in 
vain  to  learn  from  her  the  cause  of  her  uneasiness.  I  in- 


LfFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  25 

formed  Colonel  Boyd  of  Mrs.  Melbourn's  bequest  to  purchase 
her  freedom,  and  wished  him  to  give  his  consent.  He  seemed 
offended  at  the  overture.  "  He  had,"  he  said,  "  told  me  she 
should  be  free  on  the  day  of  our  marriage,  and  hoped  I  did 
not  mean  to  intimate  that  I  doubted  he  would  perform  what 
he  promised."  Of  course  I  could  not  urge  him  further. 

As  an  excuse  for  going  frequently  to  the  house  of  Colonel 
Boyd,  I  used  to  carry  him  his  letters  regularly  from  the  post- 
office  immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the  mails ;  and  this 
practice  I  continued  the  whole  of  the  autumn  of  that  year. 
St.  John  had  protracted  his  stay  at  Norfolk  much  longer  than 
was  expected.  One  evening,  among  the  letters,  I  observed 
one  post- marked  Norfolk.  Colonel  Boyd  opened  that  first : 
while  reading  it  he  appeared  greatly  agitated,  which  his 
daughter  perceiving,  begged  him  to  acquaint  her  with  the 
cause.  He  hesitated  a  few  moments,  and  then  said,  "  My 
dear  child,  I  fear  we  have  been  deceived  in  Mr.  St.  John  ; 
at  any  rate,  it  appears  from  this  letter,  which  is  from  an  old 
friend  of  mine  in  Virginia,  that  his  affairs  in  that  state  are 
totally  ruined."  The  letter  was  brief,  but  stated  in  sub 
stance,  that  soon  after  the  death  of  his  father  he  had  indulged 
quite  too  freely  in  dissipation  and  profuse  expenditure  ;  that 
in  less  than  six  months  after  he  came  to  the  possession  of  his 
estate,  he  had  mortgaged  it  for  nearly  one-third  of  its  value, 
an  act  that  was  for  some  time  kept  secret ;  that  during  the 
last  summer  he  had  been  guilty  of  gross  licentiousness,  and 
had  become  an  associate  with  the  most  extravagant  and  reck 
less  gamblers,  who  had  swindled  him  out  of  all  his  estate, 
and  left  him  in  debt. 

Colonel  Boyd  had  the  year  before  been  attacked  with  a 
slight  shock  of  apoplexy  ;  his  daughter  was  alarmed  lest  this 
news  would  discompose  his  nerves  so  as  to  produce  a  return 
of  that  fearful  disease.  She  therefore  said  to  him  cheerfully, 
"  Perhaps  it  is  not  so  bad  as  your  friend  writes  ;  and  even  if 
his  property  is  gone,  we  have  enough  to  live  upon.  I  did  not 


26  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOUR^T. 

marry  Mr.  St.  John  for  his  money."  "  No,"  said  her  father, 
"you  did  not  marry  him  for  his  money,  but  you  married 
him  because  you  loved  me,  and  I  urged  you  to  it."  "  In 
deed  you  did  not,"  said  she,  "  you  left  the  matter  to  my  own 
free  will  and — "  "  Mighty  God  !"  said  he,  heedless  of  what 
she  said,  "  that  I  should  urge  my  dear  child  to  marry  a 
drunkard — a  companion  of  swindlers — "  As  he  said  this,  he 
rose  suddenly  from  his  seat,  clasped  his  hands,  and  fell  dead 
on  the  floor. 

•The  scene  was  awful.  I  sprang  to  the  colonel — attempted 
to  raise  him — used  friction  and  other  means  to  reanimate 
him.  .  Alas  !  it  was  all  in  vain  :  the  lamp  of  life  was  extin 
guished  forever.  Laura  was  insensible.  Maria  made  every/ 
effort  to  restore  her,  which  in  a  short  time  proved  successful. 
What  effect  was  produced  upon  the  tender  and  affectionate 
heart  of  Laura  by  the  sudden  death  of  her  only  parent,  can 
be  better  imagined  than  described.  Her  grief  was  silent,  but 
it  was  most  intense.  The  mind  which  is  capable  of  over 
coming  one  great  misfortune — the  heart  which  has  been  once 
lacerated  by  deep  wounds,  and  whose  dearest  hopes  have  been 
crushed — if  capable,  by  the  strength  of  reason,  to  triumph 
and  ride  out  the  storm,  acquires  additional  strength  to  en 
counter  other  and  equally  severe  afflictions.  The  mind, 
though  it  may  retain  its  sensibilities,  acquires  not  exactly 
rigidity,  but  a  tone  which  increases  its  capability  to  resist 
prostration  on  account  of  subsequent  disappointments  and 
grief:  the  flesh  that  becomes  callous  after  a  wound,  will  be 
less  affected  by  a  blow  than  that  which  has  never  been  in 
jured.  So  it  was  with  Laura  :  she  had  survived  the  de 
struction  of  her  fondest  hopes  in  the  death  of  her  beloved 
Edward,  and  that  experience  encouraged  her  to  hope,  that 
time,  and  an  humble  resignation  to  the  dispensations  of  a 
Divine  Providence,  would  enable  her  to  outlive  the  loss  of  her 
father. 

Colonel   Boyd   died   without    a   will.      From    that   rcluc- 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  27 

tance  which  all  feel,  while  in  health,  to  sit  in  judgment  upon 
their  own  affairs  after  death,  and  make  a  final  disposition  of 
their  property,  he  had  from  time  to  time,  and  from  various 
causes,  (most  of  which  were  merely  pretences,  which  his 
unwillingness  to  engage  in  the  business  of  making  a  will  had 
conjured  up,)  put  it  off;  although,  on  the  very  day  of  his 
death,  he  told  Laura  that  he  should  go  to  town  the  next  day 
for  the  purpose  of  having  his  will  drawn  ;  that  he  was  ad 
monished  by  the  paralytic  shock  he  experienced  about  a  year  • 
before,  that  he  might  die  suddenly  ;  that  he  was  alarmed  at 
the  habits  and  propensities  he  discovered  in  St.  John,  and 
that  he  meant  to  vest  his  estate  in  the  hands  of  trustees  for 
the  benefit  of  his  daughter,  to  be  subject  to  her  control.  An 
inscrutable  Providence  defeated  these  prudential  calculations 
and  arrangements. 

A  special  message  was  immediately  dispatched  for  Mr. 
St.  John,  but  he  did  not  arrive  at  Raleigh  until  the  day  after 
the  funeral.  He  had  not  been  at  home  many  days  before  he 
assumed  the  absolute  control  of  the  property  of  Colonel 
Boyd,  all  of  which,  both  real  and  personal,  he  claimed  in 
right  of  his  wife  as  sole  heiress.  He  put  on  new  airs,  and, 
indeed,  seemed  a  different  kind  of  man.  He  sold  a  consider, 
able  number  of  the  slaves  to  raise  money  to  pay  off  the  bal 
ance  of  debts  still  existing  against  him  in  Virginia.  A  great 
p.art  of  his  time  was  spent  at  political  meetings  and  horse 
races,  or  carousing  at  a  hotel  in  Raleigh  ;  and  when  at 
home,  he  was  ill-natured  and  cruel  to  the  slaves,  and  sullen 
and  sulky  at  his  own  fireside.  Thus  it  was  that  Laura,  while 
overwhelmed  with  grief  at  her  father's  death,  was  distressed 
with  the  painful  conviction  that  her  husband,  in  whose  abso 
lute  power  the  laws  of  the  land  placed  her  and  her  great 
estate — was  becoming,  if  he  had  not  already  become,  profli 
gate  in  his  principles  and  habits,  and  tyrannical  and  brutal  in 
his  character.  His  treatment  of  me  was  haughty  and  offen 
sive,  and  he  even  intimated  a  wish  that  I  would  not  visit  at 


28  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

his  house.  Maria  seemed  more  distressed  than  any  other 
member  of  the  family.  Mr.  St.  John's  entrance  would  con 
stantly  throw  her  into  a  tremor  :  the  sound  of  his  voice,  or 
even  the  noise  of  his  steps,  would  make  her  bosom  throb  with 
fear.  As  soon  as  I  could  speak  with  her  alone,  I  reminded 
her  of  the  agitation  she  had  on  several  occasions  manifested 
in  presence  of  Mr.  St.  John,  and  entreated  her  to  inform  me 
of  the  cause  of  it, — which  she  declined  doing.  I  told  her  that 
if  her  situation  was  in  any  respect  painful,  I  would  have  her 
removed  to  some  other  place.  "  Alas  !"  said  she,  "  there 
are  two  things  which  render  such  a  step  impossible.  In  the 
first  place,  she  was  the  property  of  Mr.  St.  John,  and  there 
fore  could  not  leave  without  his  consent ;  and  if  he  would 
yield  such  consent,  she  herself  could  not  leave  her  mistress 
in  he"r  present  condition."  I  replied  that  there  was  money  in 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Smith  to  purchase  her  freedom,  and  that,  at 
all  events,  should  be  done  immediately.  "Julius,"  said  she, 
with  a  deep  sigh,  "  I  fear  Mr.  St.  John  will  refuse  to  sell 
me."  Like  a  flash  of  light,  it  came  into  my  mind  that  St. 
John  cherished  improper  designs  in  relation  to  her.  The 
horrid  idea  entered  my  soul  like  a  barbed  arrow.  I  said 
no  more,  but  hastened  to  Mr.  Smith,  and  communicated  to 
him  my  apprehensions,  and  begged  him  immediately  to  apply 
to  St.  John  for  the  purchase  of  Maria.  He  did  so  the  next 
morning,  and  met  with  a  prompt  and  peremptory  refusal  to 
sell  her  on  any  terms.  In  vain  Mr.  Smith  represented  the 
solemn  engagement  of  Colonel  Boyd,  that  he  would  set  her 
free  without  money  and  without  price  ;  and  that,  at  a  proper 
time,  she  was  to  become  my  wife.  The  excuse  rendered  by 
Mr.  St.  John  was,  that  the  attendance  of  Maria  on  Mrs.  St. 
John  was  indispensable.  Plaving  stated  this,  he  immediately 
left  the  room.  Mr.  Smith  then  requested  to  see  Mrs.  St. 
John,  and  explained  to  her  the  nature  of  his  business  with 
her  husband.  Mrs.  St.  John  said  it  was  the  intention  of  her 
father  that  Maria  should  be  freed,  which  perfectly  accorded 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  29 

with  her  own  wishes  ;  that  she  would  speak  to  her  husband 
on  the  subject,  and  she  did  not  doubt  he  would  consent  that 
Maria,  whenever  she  chose,  should  leave  the  family.  The 
next  day,  Mr.  Smith  and  myself  called,  and  found  Laura  in- 
disposed.  She  appeared  to  have  been  weeping.  Maria  was 
not  in  the  room.  Laura  said  she  had  been  disappointed  :  she 
had  been  unable  to  persuade  Mr.  St.  John  to  liberate  Maria  ; 
she  hoped,  however,  on  reflection,  he  would  be  better  dis 
posed.  St.  John  was  then  in  the  field,  and  we  concluded  to 
wait  his  return  to  the  house.  On  his  entrance  into  the  room, 
Mr.  Smith  immediately  rose  and  said  to  him,  that  it  gave 
him  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  Mrs.  St.  John  did  not  object 
to  the  discharge  of  Maria,  which,  from  what  passed  yester 
day,  he  trusted  would  remove  the  objection  of  Mr.  St.  John  j 
and  he  added,  that  if  the  price  was  any  object,  he  would,  on 
his  own  responsibility,  double  the  sum  left  by  Mrs.  Melbourn 
for  the  purchase  of  the  freedom  of  Maria.  St.  John's  eyes 
flashed  with  rage  and  fury.  "  Am  I,"  said  he,  "  to  sell  my  ^ 
slave  at  the  dictation  of  a  fanatical  old  woman  ?  You  and 

your  whole  Methodist  gang  may  go  to  the  d ,  with  this 

fellow  Julius,  whom  you  have  pampered  to  cut  our  throats. 
I  will  not,  for  all  the  wealth  of  your  tribe,  sell  this  girl, — by 
heavens,  I  will  not !"  Mr.  Smith  endeavored  to  calm  him, 
and  finally  insisted  that  St.  John  was  under  a  moral  obliga 
tion  to  carry  into  effect  the  intention  of  Colonel  Boyd.  This 
increased  his  rage.  "  You  scoundrel  !"  said  he,  "  have  I 
not  a  right  to  do  what  I  please  with  my  own  property  ?  Ras 
cal  !  do  you  claim  to  direct  me  what  I  shall  sell,  or  what  I 
shall  keep  ?  There  stands  my  roan  mare — perhaps  in  your 
next  sermon  you  will  exhort  me  to  sell  her.  Out  of  my 
house,  and  never  let  me  see  you  here  again."  We  left  the 
house,  and  the  next  day  I  received  the  following  note  from 
Maria : 


30  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

#<" 
"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND, 

"  I  am  very  unhappy.  I  cannot,  dare  not,  explain  to  you 
the  cause.  My  poor  mistress  is  very  sick.  She  cannot 
write  ;  if  she  could,  I  would  never  consent  to  write  what  I 
do  now.  My  mistress  says  we  must  be  married  right  away. 
I  hope  you  will  not  think  me  too  bold  for  writing  this.  I 
would  not  for  the  world  have  done  so  had  not  my  kind,  good 
mistress  told  me  I  must.  She  says  Mr.  St.  John  is  going  to 
the  horserace  to-morrow,  and  that  you  must  come  and  bring 
with  you  Mr.  Parker,  the  church  minister,  as  she  thinks  Mr. 
St.  John  will  not  find  so  much  fault  with  him  for  doing  it  as 
he  would  with  Mr.  Smith,  because  he  is  a  Methodist  and  Mr. 
Parker  is  a  Churchman.  I  am  afraid  you  will  think  ill  of  me 
for  writing  this,  but  then  I  think  there  is  something  in  your 
heart  that  will  make  you  forgive  your  own  distracted  but 
true-hearted 

"MARIA." 

I  cannot  express  the  joy  with  which  I  read  over  this  artless 
letter.  I  loved  Maria  with  an  affection  the  most  ardent. 
This  passion  was  not  excited  by  her  beauty,  but  by  the  pu 
rity  of  her  mind,  and  the  strength  of  her  affection  for  me. 
It  is  said  that  "  pity  moves  the  soul  to  love ;"  and  her  unpro 
tected,  distressed,  and  forlorn  situation  as  a  slave,  and — may  I 
add,  without  offending  the  delicacy  of  the  reader  ? — her  taint 
with  despised  African  blood,  increased  my  sympathy  and 
affection. 

I  communicated  the  letter  to  Mr.  Smith,  who  with  me 
called  on  Mr.  Parker,  and  stated  the  case  fully  to  him,  and 
he  entirely  approved  of  the  measure.  He  went  the  next  af 
ternoon  with  me  to  the  house,  and  we  found  Mrs.  St.  John  ori 
her  bed.  I  lost  no  time  in  expressing  the  deep  sense  of  grat 
itude  I  felt  for  what  she  had  done.  She  said  there  was  no 
time  for  conversation,  for  Mr.  St.  John's  mare,  which  he  in 
tended  for  the  race,  was  found  that  morning  to  be  a  little 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  31 

lame,  and  it  was  possible,  and  even  probable,  that  he  might 
return  without  going  to  the  race-ground.  We  therefore  im 
mediately  prepared  for  the  ceremony,  but  just  as  Mr.  Parker 
was  about  to  commence,  Mr.  St.  John  entered  the  room.  He 
instantly  perceived  what  was  going  on,  and  forbid  the  mar 
riage  ;  ordered  Mr.  Parker  and  me  to  leave  the  house,  and 
seized  hold  of  Maria.  Involuntarily  I  laid  my  hand  on  my 
dagger,  which  I  then  carried  in  my  bosom.  May  God  forgive 
me,  but  at  that  moment  my  soul  thirsted  for  blood.  At  that 
instant  Mrs.  St.  John  rose  from  her  bed  ;  the  fire  of  Colonel 
Boyd's  eye  flashed  from  that  of  his  retiring  and  mild  daugh 
ter.  "  I  command  you,"  said  she  to  Mr.  Parker,  "  to  pro 
ceed.  That  man  has  no  right  to  interfere.  The  girl  is  mine, 
and  I  will  dispose  of  her.  What  mean  you,"  said  she,  ad 
dressing  St.  John,  "  by  thus  insulting  the  honor  and  the 
memory  of  my  father  ?  My  lands  and  goods  you  have  ;  I 
do  not  complain.  Have  you  the  meanness  to  claim  the  con 
trol  of  my  own  maid  ?  You  cannot,  shall  not  do  it.  I  will 
carry  out  the  intention  of  my  father  at  the  sacrifice  of  my 
life."  St.  John  was  struck  dumb  with  surprise ;  he  had 
never  before  seen  any  thing  in  his  wife  but  the  most  quiet 
submission ;  for  the  moment  he  was  overawed.  He  felt 
"  how  awful  virtue  was,"  and  shrunk  from  the  frown  of 
outraged  innocence.  She  turned  to  Mr.  Parker,  and  said, 
with  calmness,  but  with  that  true  dignity  which  conscious 
rectitude  and  the  triumph  of  virtue  always  inspires,  "  Pro 
ceed,  sir,  with  the  ceremony."  He  did  so  ;  but  the  moment 
he  pronounced  us  man  and  wife,  Mrs.  St.  John  fell  apparently 
lifeless  on  the  sofa. 

She,  however,  soon  recovered,  and  though  she  continued  ill  for 
several  months,  the  succeeding  winter  she  in  a  great  measure 
regained  her  usual  state  of  health,  which  had  never  been  good 
since  the  shock  she  experienced  upon  hearing  of  the  death  of 
Edward. 

After  Maria  became  my  wife,  I  continually  urged  her  to 


32  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

disclose  to  me  the  reason  why  she  for  a  long  time  past  had  been, 
and  still  appeared  to  be  distressed  in  the  presence  of  St.  John, 
and  she  finally  consented  to  explain  the  matter  to  me  on  the 
express  condition  that  I  would  promise  not  to  attempt  to  avenge 
any  wrongs  or  injuries  to  which  she  had  been  subjected  ;  and 
to  this  condition  I  consented. 

She  then  related  to  me,  in  detail,  the  persecutions  she  had 
suffered  from  St.  John,  which  commenced  soon  after  his 
marriage  with  Laura  Boyd ;  his  flatteries,  his  threats,  and 
finally  his  attempt  at  force,  when  fortunately  she  was  relieved 
by  the  accidental  and  unexpected  appearance  of  Mrs.  St.  John. 
Maria  concluded  by  saying,  that  she  wrote  me  the  note  re 
questing  me  to  come  and  marry  her  by  the  express  command 
of  her  mistress. 

While  listening  to  Maria's  relation,  I  became  highly  indig 
nant,  and  when  she  concluded,  I  trembled  with  rage.  I 
grasped  my  dagger,  and  my  first  thought  was  to  seek  out  the 
monster,  and  stab  him  to  the  heart.  Maria  checked  me. 
She  pointed  out  the  criminality  of  such  an  act.  She  urged 
the  certain  ruin  to  myself  as  well  as  her  which  would  inevit 
ably  follow,  and  reminded  me  of  my  solemn  promise  that  I 
would  not  take  revenge ; — and  her  expostulations  had  the  effect 
she  intended. 

The  condition  of  the  male  slave  one  would  suppose  was 
the  extreme  of  wretchedness,  but  that  of  the  female  is  still 
worse.  For  a  female  to  be  the  PROPERTY  of  an  unscrupu 
lous,  sensual,  and  profligate  man,  how  horrible  !  Well  might 
Maria  say,  as  she  did  say  to  me  on  this  occasion,  "  How  could 
the  poor  slave  endure  life  were  it. not  for  her  belief  in  a  be 
nevolent  and  just  God,  and  in  '  another  and  a  better  world  ?'  ' 

I  went  home,  and  wfote  St.  John  the  following  note : 

SIR — 

Maria  has  told  me  all,  but  on  the  condition  that  I  would  prom 
ise  not  to  avenge  her  wrongs.  Vile  as  you  are,  I  shall  keep 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  33 

that  promise.  But  remember — ay,  REMEMBER — that  if  you 
again  abuse  her  with  your  beastly  attempts,  as  suate  as  there 
is  a  God  in  heaven,  be  the  consequence  to  me  what  it  may, 

you  are  a  dead  man. 

I  am,  &c. 

^  JULIUS  MELBOURN. 

A.  ST.  JOHN,  Esq. 

/ 

Some  persons  may  think  it  extraordinary  that  on  the  re- 

ceipt  of  my  letter  St.  John  did  not  complain  to  the  police  officers 
and  cause  me  to  be  arrested  ;  but  he  knew  I  had  powerful 
friends  in  Raleigh — he  knew  I  could  command  money,  and 
he  considered  that  he  could  not  make  the  complaint  without 
disclosing  his  own  infamy,  and  drawing  down  upon  himself 
the  vengeance  of  the  friends  of  his  wife.  He  was  alarmed  ; 
for  from  his  knowledge  of  me  he  was  well  convinced  that  if 
he  persisted  in  his  nefarious  course,  I  should  execute  my 
threats. 

True  courage  is  based  upon  virtue.  The  paroxysms  of  a 
madman  and  the  blustering  of  the  inebriate  have  no  affinity 
with  real  fortitude.  Hence  the  sordid  knave  and  the  profli 
gate  villain  are  generally  cowards.  St.  John  therefore  from 
that  time  entirely  ceased  making  those  attempts  upon  Maria, 
but  treated  her  afterwards  in  a  most  inhuman  and  tyrannical 
manner.  Her  body  was  frequently  lacerated  by  wounds  in 
flicted  by  the  blows  of  this  monster,  but  this  she  carefully 
concealed  from  me  and  Mrs.  St.  John. 

The  events  last  related  occurred  in  the  autumn  of  the  year 
1811,  and  it  will  be  recollected  that  I  became  twenty-one 
years  old  on  the  fourth  day  of  July  in  that  year.  During 
the  winter  and  following  summer  St.  John  became  more  and 
more  dissipated  and  irregular  in  his  conduct,  while  his  un 
fortunate  wife,  feeble  in  health  and  depressed  in  spirits, 
seemed  barely  to  support  a  painful  existence.  Maria  was 
her  only  companion.  St.  John  was  absent  most  of  the  time, 
a  considerable  part  of  which  he  spent  in  Baltimore  and  New 

3 


34  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

York.  I  made  several  attempts  through  agents  (for  I  knew 
a  personal  application  was  sure  to  be  refused)  to  purchase 
Maria's  freedom ;  but  to  all  s-uch  applications  he  gave  a  per 
emptory  refusal  even  to  treat,  on  the  subject.  This  state  of 
things  produced  in  my  mind  extreme  pain,  which  was  greatly 
heightened  and  rendered  almost  intolerable  by  Maria's  giving 
birth  to  a  son,  who,  according  to  the  laws  of  North  Carolina,  was 
the  slave  of  Alexander  St.  John.  Strange  law  !  I  was  worth 
at  least  $20,000,  and  yet  my  innocent  child,  born  in  lawful 
wedlock,  was  the  property,  the  goods  and  chattel  of  my  most 
inveterate  enemy,  who,  if  I  were  to  offer  him  a  million  of  money, 
would  be  justified,  by  the  laws  of  the  land,  in  retaining  my 
child  in  bondage.  And  yet  North  Carolina  claims  to  be  a 
Christian,  a  democratic  state,  and  inscribes  on  her  banner, 
Equal  Rights,  as  her  favorite  motto  !  I  invoke  the  attention, 
not  of  the  slaveholder,  for  he  is  incorrigibly  insensible,  but  of 
the  civilized  world  to  this  great  fact,  so  damning  to  the  reputa 
tion  of  the  slaveholding  democratic  states  of  the  great  Ameri 
can  Union.  There  was,  however,  one  consideration  which 
afforded  me  some  hope.  St.  John  was  rapidly  involving  him 
self  in  debt,  and  perhaps  the  pressure  on  him  for  money 
might  before  long  induce  him  to  sell,  for  a  round  sum,  I 
cared  not  how  exorbitant,  my  wife  and  child.  In  the  spring 
of  1814,  St.  John  determined  he  would  spend  a  part  of  the 
ensuing  summer  at  Saratoga  Springs,  New  York.  He  now 
found  himself  sadly  pinched  for  money  ;  his  creditors  too  were 
very  pressing  ;  his  debts,  which  had  been  chiefly  incurred  at 
the  gambling  table  and  for  bets  on  horseracing,  were  of  sucji 
a  character  as  he  was  bound  to  pay  promptly,  or  lose  caste 
among  his  associates.  It  therefore  became  necessary  for  him 
to  raise  by  a  loan  a  large  sum  of  money. 

There  was  a  man  in  Raleigh  by  the  name  of  Return  Jona 
than  Fairport,  who  was  a  dealer  in  money,  and  generally 
called  a  broker,  though  in  truth  the  appellation  of  shaver 
would  have  been  more  appropriate  for  him  than  the  honorp- 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  35 

ble  name  of  broker.  Mr.  Fairport  was  a  native  of  Lynn, 
Massachusetts,  and  some  ten  years  before  had  introduced 
himself  at  the  South  as  a  pedler  of  wooden  clocks  and  sundry 
articles  of  tinware.  In  that  business  he  was  very  successful, 
and  in  a  few  years  had  cleared  to  himself  some  four  or  five 
thousand  dollars  in  ready  cash,  with  which  he  commenced 
operating  by  purchasing  notes  and  small  bonds  and  mort 
gages,  and  by  accommodating  the  young  Southern  gentlemen 
with  loans  in  the  winter  season,  to  be  repaid  after  the  next 
tobacco  harvest,  with  from  25  to  50  per  cent,  interest.  In 
this  way,  by  the  aid  of  Mr.  Grip,  a  lawyer  in  Raleigh,  he  in 
creased  the  amount  of  his  funds  with  astonishing  rapidity. 
During  the  war  with  Great  Britain  the  difference  in  exchange 
between  the  South  and  North  became  very  considerable,  and 
before  its  close  rose  to  20  per  cent.  ;  and  Mr.  Fairport  having 
established  a  credit  at  Boston,  and  a  pretty  good  understand 
ing  with  the  managers  of  the  general  post-office  at  Wash 
ington,  his  gains  were  enormous. 

Mr.  Fairport  was  a  little  under  the  usual  size,  misera 
bly  emaciated,  with  a  long  chin,  sharp  pointed  nose,  small  gray 
eyes,  sunk  very  deep  into  his  head,  a  cadaverous  complexion, 
and  a  most  grave  and  melancholy  countenance.  He  was  a 
religious  man,  and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of 
1iis  native  town,  and  held  strictly  to  the  Saybrook  Platform. 

Mr.  St.  John  had  for  some  time  been  in  the  practice  of 
borrowing  small  sums  of  money  of  Return  Jonathan  Fairport. 
On  the  present  occasion  he  called  upon  him  and  told  him  he 
wanted  to  borrow  a  large  sum.  "  Lack-a-day,"  said  Jona 
than,  "  I  am  just  at  this  time  hard  up.  I  have  not  one  hun 
dred  dollars  at  command.  Where  in  the  world  can  I  get  a 
thousand  dollars  ?  I  am  this  moment  racking  my  brains  to 
meet  a  draft  from  Boston  of  $500."  "  Pooh  !"  said  St.  John, 
"  I  understand  your  tricks,  brother  Jonathan  ;  you  need  not 
attempt  to  play  them  on  me.  I  know  you  can  command  any 
sum  you  choose.  Don't  talk  to  me  of  one  thousand  dollars, 


36  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

I  want  at  least  fifteen  thousand !"  Fairport  raised  his  hands 
and  gazed  at  St.  John  with  astonishment.  "  Fifteen  thou 
sand,"  said  he,  "  I  could  not,  to  save  the  nation,  raise  five 
thousand."  "  D — n  it,"  said  St.  John,  "  let  me  hear  no  more 
of  this  ;  y*ou  know  that  I  know  what  you  say  is  false." 
"  What  has  Major  St.  John  seen  of  me,"  replied  Fairport, 
meekly,  "  which  causes  him  to  charge  me  with  falsehood  ? 
truly  he  knows  I  am  a  conscientious  man."  "  Ay,  that  I 
do,  and  that  you  are  a  pious  go-to-meeting  man  ;  but,"  said 
St.  John,  in  a  low  voice,  "  give  me  $15,000,  and  I  will  give 
you  fay  bond  for  818,000,  payable  next  new-year's  day, 
with  interest ;  what  say  you  to  that  St.  Jonathan  ?"  Mr. 
Fairport  looked  intently  on  a  mortgage  that  lay  before  him 
for  a  moment,  then  clapping  his  hand  on  his  forehead,  said : 
"  A  thought  has  struck  me,  which  may  perhaps  lead  to  your 
accommodation.  There  is  no  man  in  the  state  I  would  sooner 
oblige  than  yourself.  You  must  need  the  money  very  much, 
or  you  would  not  make  so  liberal  an  offer  :  now  a  friend  of 
mine  in  Salei^in.-the  old  Bay  State,  writes  me  to  invest  some 
money  for  him,  and  has  authorized  me  to  draw  on  him  for  a 
considerable  amount.  I  will  venture  to  make  the  loan  on 
these  conditions  :  you  shall  pay  15  per  cent.,  which  is  the 
usual  price  for  a  draft  on  Boston,  and  give  me  a  judgment 
bond  to  secure  the  payment  of  the  money.  If  the  money  was 
mine,  I  know  your  standing  so  well,  and  have  such  confi 
dence  in  your  honor,  that  I  would  not  of  course  ask  any  se 
curity,  but  my  friend  positively  forbids  my  lending  his  money 
without  security."  "  Have  you  the  impudence  to  ask  secu 
rity  of  me,  Mr.  Fairport  ?  I  will  pay  the  premium  for  the 
draft,  and  give  you  my  bond  for  the  money ;  but  as  for  giv 
ing  you  a  judgment  as  security,  you  may  go  to  h —  for  it." 
"  Very  well,  as  you  please,  Major  ;  I  must  follow  my  in 
structions."  St.  John  left  the  office  in  a  great  rage  ;  but,  as 
Fairport  evidently  foresaw,  in  a  few  minutes  he  came  back 
and  agreed  to  give  the  judgment.  They  went  out  imme- 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  37 

diately  to  Mr.  Grip's  office,  where  the  bond  and  warrant  of 
attorney  was  executed,  and  the  money  paid.  St.  John  left 
Raleigh  about  the  middle  of  June,  in  the  southern  flash  style 
of  that  day  :  he  took  with  him  two  slaves,  an  elegjint  pair  of 
bay  horses,  which  he  drove  tandem,  and  a  splendid  gig,  man 
ufactured  in  Boston,  and  which  he  had  purchased  at  an  ex 
orbitant  price  of  Fairport.  To  Maria  and  myself,  and  indeed 
I  may  say  to  his  own  wife,  his  departure  afforded  sincere 
pleasure.  Every  thing  at  the  old  mansion  of  Colonel  Boyd 
was  now  quiet  and  peaceful  ;  even  the  countenance  of  the 
field-slave  was  lighted  up  with  animation  and  joy.  But 
alas  !  the  physical  powers  of  Laura  were  fatally  impaired  : 
nothing  could  revive  her,  or  restore  to  her  eye  its  lustre  or 
the  bloom  to  her  cheek.  In  vain  did  she  try  to  enliven  her 
spirits  by  conversation  with  Maria,  or  amuse  herself  with  the 
infantile  developments  of  her  child.  Her  mind  as  well  as 
her  corporeal  powers  continued,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of 
my  wife,  myself,  and  all  her  domestic  servants,  to  be  more 
and  more  oppressed. 

In  the  month  of  August  Mr.  Smith  received  a  letter  from 
the  treasurer  of  Princeton  College,  stating  that  upon  examin 
ing  the  accounts  of  that  institution,  a  charge  had  been  found 
against  Edward  Melbourn  for  one  quarter's  board  and  incr- 
dentals,  which  by  mistake  had  not  been  settled  when  he  left 
that  Institution  :  the  treasurer  therefore  requested  Mr.  Smith's 
attention  to  the  claim.  Mr.  Smith  consulted  with  me  about 
it ;  and  as  we  doubted  whether  the  accountant  of  the  College 
had  not  himself  committed  an  error,  knowing  as  we  did  the 
extreme  accuracy  with  which  Edward  transacted  all  his  pe 
cuniary  affairs,  and  as  it  was  difficult  at  that  time  to  transmit 
with  safety  drafts  for  money  from  one  part  of  the  country  to 
another,  it  was  concluded  that  I  should  make  a  journey  to 
Princeton  and  settle  the  claim.  -  I  therefore  lost  no  time  in 
preparing  for  the  journey,  and -anticipated  much  pleasure  in 
viewing  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  those  great  cities  of 


38  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

which  I  had  heard  so  much,  as  well  as  that  ancient  and  ven 
erable  seat  of  science,  Princeton  College.  For  this  reason  I 
made  preparations  for  the  journey  with  the  ardor  and  vivacity 
of  a  boy ;  but  when  the  morning  arrived  on  which  I  was  to 
leave  home,  and  was  about  to  bid  farewell  to  my  wife  and 
child,  a  melancholy  presentiment  suddenly  oppressed  my 
mind  ;  and  as  I  held  them  to  my  heart,  a  chill  of  horror 
seized  me,  which  was  then  as  now,  to  me  unaccountable.  I 
felt  that  I  was  bidding  farewell,  perhaps  a  last  farewell,  to  all 
that  was  dear  to  me  on  earth.  There  are  probably  few  per- 
sons  who  have  not  some  time  in  their  lives  experienced  simi 
lar  sensations  ;  and  the  kind  of  sensations  which  arc  remem 
bered,  generally  prove  to  be  presages  of  evil.  It  may  be  that  we 
remember  only  those  evil  forebodings  which"  happen  afterwards 
to  be  realized ;  or  it  may  be  "  there  is  a  divinity  that  stirs 
within  us,"  which  warns  us  of  approaching  suffering  and 
danger.  I  am  neither  a  believer  in  witchcraft  nor  prodi 
gies,  yet  with  the  scholar  Horatio  I  do  believe  "  there  are 
more  things  in  heaven  and  earth  than  are  dreamt  of  in  our 
philosophy."  Maria  perceived  the  depression  of  my  spirits, 
and  endeavored  to  cheer  me  ;  but  notwithstanding  the  lively 
airs  which  she  assumed,  I  saw  that  something  lay  heavy  at 
her  heart.  After  leaving  the  door  she  called  me  back  to  re 
peat  to  me  that  she  should  expect  me  in  three  weeks  at  far 
thest.  But  my  absence  was  prolonged  ;  for  on  arriving  at 
Princeton,  the  treasurer  was  gone  on  a  journey  to  Massachu 
setts,  and  I  was  obliged  to  wait  his  return. 

On  the  evening  that  my  business  was  closed  with  the  treas 
urer  of  the  college,  a  servant  at  the  hotel  brought  me  a  letter 
which  by  the  superscription  I  knew  to  be  from  Maria,  and 
hastily  opening  it,  read  the  following  words,  which  were 
written  in  so  much  haste  that  they  were  scarcely  legible. 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  39 

"  September  1. 
"  DEAR  HUSBAND, 

"  Come  home  immediately  ;  my  dear  mistress  is  dead  ;  I 
am  sold,  and  to-morrow  shall  be  carried  to  New  Orleans. 
Mr.  Parker  will  tell  you  where  our  little  Edward  is  ;  I  dare 
not  write  about  it.  This  letter  may  be  broken  open,  and 
may  nevertreach  you.  I  shall  never  see  you  more,  but  I  can 
die  contented  if  Edward  gets  into  your  hands.  Adieu,  for 
ever  !  May  our  Heavenly  Father  take  care  of  you. 

"  MARIA  MELBOURN." 

While  reading  these  lines  my  brain  seemed  to  whirl  like  a 
top :  for  a  moment  my  sight  failed.  I  knew  not  what  I  did. 
I  called  for  the  landlord,  and  told  him  he  must  send  me  to  Phil 
adelphia  that  night ;  but  while  yet  speaking  with  him,  the 
mail-stage  came  to  the  door.  I  instantly  paid  my  bill,  mounted 
on  the  driver's  seat,  and  urged  him  to  drive  with  all  possible 
speed.  I  stopped  neither  to  sleep  nor  eat  until  after  my  arri 
val  in  Raleigh.  I  heard  vague  rumors,  on  the  way,  of  the 
failure  of  Mr.  St.  John,  of  the  sale  of  his  property,  and  the 
death  of  his  wife.  On  arriving  at  Raleigh,  I  immediately 
ran  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parker,  because  Maria  had  referred  me 
to  him,  and  Mr.  Smith  was  then  absent  on  a  mission  in  the 
State  of  Missouri,  having  left  home  four  or  five  weeks  before, 
and  was  not  expected  to  return  until  the  next  December. 
Mr.  Parker  was  fortunately  in  his  study,  and  he  immediately 
informed  me  of  the  distressing  events  which  had  occurred  in 
my  absence. 

About  the  20th  of  August,  a  few  days  after  my  de 
parture  for  the  North,  Mr.  Fairport  received  news  from 
a  Boston  correspondent,  then  at  Saratoga,  that  St.  John, 
upon  arriving  at  Saratoga  Springs,  had  set  up  a  style  of  liv 
ing  most  profusely  expensive  ;  that  he  spent  both  his  days 
and  nights  in  the  wildest  scenes  of  dissipation  ;  and  that 
finally  he  had  fallen  in  with  a  gang  of  notorious  swin- 


40  '         LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MEL-BOURN. 

dlers,  who  at  the  gaming-table  had  robbed  him  of  all  his 
money,  Amounting,  as  was  understood,  to  several  thousand 
dollars';  and  that,  with  a  view  to  retrieve  his  losses,  he  had 
staked  his  horses,  equipage,  servants,  and  even  his  watch  and 
wearing  apparel,  and  lost  all.  Upon  receiving  this  intelli 
gence,  Fairport  lost  no  time  in  suing  out  an  execution  against 
St.  John,  and  directed  the  sheriff  to  levy  and  sell  all  his 
household  furniture,  slaves,  and  other  personal  property. 
The  sheriff  thereupon  entered  the  house,  lately  the  property 
of  Colonel  Boyd,  and  without  much  ceremony  proceeded  to 
seize  and  make  an  inventory  of  every  thing  he  could  find  there. 
Mrs.  St.  John,  whose  spirits  were  already  crushed  by  disap 
pointments  and  grief,  enfeebled  and  worn  out  with  sickness, 
upon  learning  that  the  property  of  her  father  was  all  to  be 
seized  and  sold  for  the  debts  of  her  unfeeling  and  worthless 
husband,  sunk  under  the  blow.  She  was  seized  with  convul 
sions  and  died  in  two  days.  Maria  never  left  the  room  of  her 
beloved  mistress,  but  continued  with  her  to  the  last,  and  fol 
lowed  her  remains  to  the  grave.  A  few  moments  before 
Laura  expired,  her  senses  returned  ;  she  called  Maria  to  her, 
took  her  hand — "  My  dear  friend,"  said  she,  "  I  am  going  to 
join  my  father  and  mother;"  and  she  faintly  added,  "  My 
dear  Edward  ; — do  not.  grieve  for  me,  my  only  distress  is  for 
you.  I  see  nothing  but  misery  before  you  in  this  world.  I 
know  what  they  intend  to  do  with  you.  My  last  recollections 
are,  a  conversation  I  overheard  about  you.  Oh  !  these 
wicked  laws  -of-  my  native  State  !  There  is  no  help — you 
must  seek  for  comfort  in  another  world — write  to  your  hus 
band — tell  him  to  come  quick."  She  could  not  finish  the 
sentence,  but  shortly  after  breathed  a  prayer  for  Maria,  and 
her  pure  soul  took  its  flight.  After  the  funeral  service, 
which  was  performed  by  Mr.  Parker,  Maria  informed  him  of 
her  situation,  and  begged  his  advice  and  assistance,  which  he 
readily  promised.  She  told  him  that  herself  and  child  had 
been  seized  by  the  sheriff*,  and  were  to  be  sold  in  two  days. 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  41 

and  to  be  taken,  w  siie  supposed,  to  the  South.  Mr.  Parker 
had  heard  that  the  sheriff  had  secured  the  other  slaves  for 
fear  of  their  escape,  and  advised  Maria  to  bring  Edward  to 
his  house  that  night,  and  he  would  at  any  rate  conceal  him 
until  my  arrival,  believing  it  would  be  much  easier  and  safer 
to  secrete  the  child,  in  case  the  sheriff  would  not  postpone  the 
sale,  than  both  the  mother  and  the  child.  Maria  gladly  em 
braced  the  offer,  saying  she  cared  not  for  any  thing  that 
would  befall  herself,  if  her  child  could  be  safe,  and  immedi 
ately  after  dark  she  brought  Edward  to  Mr.  Parker.  On  her 
way  returning  to  the  house,  the  thought  struck  her  that  pos 
sibly  she  might  conceal  herself  until  my  return,  which  was 
expected  in  a  few  days.  As  she  was  about  to  turn  off  her 
road,  one  of  the  sheriff's  officers  met  her,  as  he  was  on  his 
return  from  the  Mansion-house,  whither  he  had  been  in 
search  of  her.  He  immediately  seized  and  hurried  her  to 
his  own  house,  where  she  was  manacled  and  thrown  into  a 
dark  room  in  the  cellar,  and  the  door  locked. 

Early  the  next  morning  Mr.  Parker  called  on  the  sheriff 
and  requested  him  to  postpone  the  sale  of  Maria  and  her  child 
till  my  return.  The  sheriff  said  he  would  do  nothing  without 
the  order  of  Mr.  Fairport  or  his  attorney.  Mr.  P.  then  went 
to  Mr.  Fairport,  who  referred  him  to._  Mr.  Grip.  He  next 
went  to  Mr.  Grip's  office,  where  he  found  the  lawyer  in  close 
consultation  with  G.  W.  Johnson,  the  son  of  Major  Johnson, 
with  whom  the  reader  is  already  acquainted.  As  Mr.  Par 
ker  entered  the  room,  he  heard  Johnson  saying  something 
about  the  high  price  of  yellow  girls  in  New  Orleans.  He 
knew  that  Johnson  was  a  speculator  in  negroes,  and  it  instant 
ly  occurred  to  him  that  the  subject  of  their  conversation  was 
the  purchase  of  Maria,  with  the  intention  of  taking  her  to 
New  Orleans,  where  her  beauty  and  accomplishments  would 
command  a  high  price.  The  thought  fijled  him  with  horror, 
and  he  resolved  at  any  sacrifice  to  prevent  it. 

Mr.  Parker  stated  briefly  the  object  of  his  visit,  reminding 


42 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOUBN. 


Mr.  Grip  of  my  circumstances  and  ample  pecuniary  means ; 
that  no  one  would  pay  a  higher  price  than  the  husband  and 
father,  and  urged  him  to  defer  the  sale  till  my  return,  which 
was  daily  expected.  Mr.  Grip  listened  most  respectfully, 
and  replied  mildly  but  firmly,  that  his  client  would  probably 
lose  much  money  by  St.  John,  and  that  he  could  on  no  ac 
count  interrupt  the  proceedings  of  the  sheriff.  "  Then,"  said 
Mr.  P.,  "  I  will  myself  bid  off  the  mother  and  child." 
"  Really,  Mr.  Grip,  you  ought  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of 
the  reverend  gentleman  ;  your  client  cannot  be  a  loser  by  it," 
said  Johnson,  and  a  significant  look  passed  between  the  two 
friends.  After  some  further  conversation,  Grip  finally  re 
marked  that  it  was  very  probable  Julius  would  be  at  home 
before  the  sale  ;  that  there  were  many  articles  to  be  sold  ; 
that  the  sale  would  occupy  more  than  one  day,  and  he  would 
see  that  Maria  was  not  sold  the  first  day  ,•  and  in  the  mea,n 
time  some  arrangement  could  be  made.  With  these  assu- 

O 

ranees,  Mr.  Parker  was  fain  to  be  content,  and  he  went  im 
mediately  to  the  mansion  of  Colonel  Boyd,  in  search  of  Maria, 
but  found  no  one  there  except  a  man  in  whose  charge  the 
sheriff  had  left  the  premises.  He  inquired  for  Maria,  but 
could  obtain  no  intelligence  of  her.  She  was  not  among  the 
slaves,  nor  could  she  be  heard  of  in  the  village ;  he  therefore 
concluded  she  had  secre.ted  herself  for  a  few  days,  and  the 
good  man  waited  with  great  anxiety  the  result.  The  suc 
ceeding  day,  which  was  the  time  on  which  the  sale  had  been 
noticed,  he  was  careful  to  attend,  being  apprehensive  that 
something  might  be  wrong.  On  arriving  at  the  house  about 
five  minutes  after  the  time  noticed  for  the  commencement  of 
selling,  and  inquiring  of  one  of  the  deputies  whether  Maria 
had  been  heard  of,  he  was*  informed  that  one  or  two  minutes 
before  she  had  been  put  up  at  auction,  and  struck  off  to 
George  W.  Johnson.*  He  resolved  to  ascertain  the  truth,  and 

*  The  law  which  permits  slaves  to  be  i?old  on  execution,  which,  by  the  by, 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBQURN.  43 

at  length  found  her  handcuffed  and  in  charge  of  Johnson. 
Mr.  P.  knew  it  was  in  vain  to  reproach  him,  and  calmly 
inquired  how  much  over  his  bid  he  would  take"  "for  the  wo 
man.  "  I  will  not,"  said  he,  "  take  any  money  for  her  ;  I 
beg  of  you,  Reverend  Sir,  to  quiet  your  conscience  ;  she  is 
my  property,  and,  thank  God,  the  laws  of  good  old  North 
Carolina  protect  the  property  of  all."  "Poor  Maria  was 
inconsolable  ;  and  I  left  her,"  continued  Mr.  Parker,  "  to 
make  known  her  case,  and  rally  my  friends  to  take  some 
means  to  prevent  Johnson's  taking  her  out  of  the  coun 
try.  Every  man  whom  I  addressed  was  fired  with  indig 
nation  at  Grip  and  the  sheriff,  and  especially  at  Johnson, 
whose  character  was  well  known.  A  number  of  us  agreed  to 
go  in  company  the  next  morning,  and  insist  that  for  a  reason 
able  consideration  she  should  be  given  up.  We  went  early  to 
the  house  where  he  lodged,  but  were  informed  that  at  nine 
o'clock  the  evening  before  he  had  started  with  Maria  and  ten 
slaves  for  the  South.  We  could  do  nothing  more,  and  since 
that  have  never  heard  from  her." 

Upon  hearing  my  worst  apprehensions  confirmed  by  this 
narration,  of  Mr.  Parker,  I  raved  like  a  madman.  My  pas 
sions  were  excited  to  a  perfect  phrensy.  A  few  moments' 
reflection,  however,  calmed  that  phrensy  into  gloomy  despair, 
for  it  occurred  to  me  that  from  Raleigh  to  New  Orleans,  the 
civil  and  military  authorities  were  by  law  required  to  sustain 
these  wretches  in  the  outrages  contemplated,  as  well  as  those 
already  committed,  upon  my  unhappy  wife.  In  the  delirium 
of  my  rage,  I  cursed  the  State  which  could  tolerate  laws  so 
palpably  in  violation  of  human  rights  and  the  law  of  God, 

results  from  the  doctrine  that "  slaves  are  property,"  is  perhaps  the  great 
est  outrage  on  humanity  which  is  tolerated  by  any  part  of  the  system  ef 
Southern  slavery.  It  wrests,  by  the  force  of  law,  from  the  humane  mas 
ter  the  care  and  control  of  his  servants,  and  puts  men,  women,  and  chil 
dren,  against  their  will  and  wishes,  in  the  power  of  unprincipled  and  un 
feeling  speculators. 


44  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  • 

and  I  imprecated  vengeance  on  the  perpetrators  of  these  in 
fernal  crimes. 

It  would  swell  this  volume  to  an  unreasonable  and  incon 
venient  size,  if  the  story  of  Mr.  Melbourn  were  to  be  contin 
ued  in  his  own  words  ;  but  in  order  that  his  reminiscences 
which  are  contained  in  the  following  sheets  may  be  the  better 
understood,  the  editor  takes  leave  to  state  briefly  : 

That  Mr.  Melbourn,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  by  the 
aid  of  Mr.  Parker,  effected  the  purchsae  and  emancipation  of 
his  infant  son,  and,  as  soon  as  this  was  accomplished,  he 
started  in  pursuit  of  his  wife,  taking  the  same  route  which 
Mr.  Johnson,  the  purchaser  of  Maria,  had  pursued  with  her 
and  the  gang  of  negroes  he  had  bought  for  the  New  Orleans 
market.  So  many  British  cruisers  were  then  hovering  about 
the  Southern  coast,  (for  the  reader  will  please  to  recollect 
that  this  was  in  the  year  1813,  when  the  last  war  with  Great 
Britain  was  raging,)  that  Johnson  dared  not  transport  his 
slaves  by  water,  but  took  them  by  land,  through  the  interior 
of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  the  then  wilderness  ter-  ^ 
ritories  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  to  Natchez.  Melbourn  I 
did  not  overtake  the  company  until  they  arrived  at  that  place. 
Immediately  on  his  arrival,  and  before  he  had  seen  his  wife, 
Johnson  discovered  him,  and  forthwith  went  before  a  magis 
trate  and  swore  that  Melbourn  was  born  a  slave  to  his  father.* 
Melbourn  was  thereupon  arrested  and  thrown  into  jail  as  a 
fugitive  slave. 

In  his  haste  to  pursue  and  overtake  his  wife,  he  had  for 
gotten  to  take  with  him  written  evidence  of  his  emancipation. 
He  was  therefore   detained  in  a  dungeon  and  in  chains,  de-   K 
barred  from  all  communication  with  any  human  being  but 
the  jailer,  until  he  could  send  to  Raleigh  and  procure  docu- 


*  Mr.  Melbourn,  being  to  all  appearance  a  white!,  man,  an  oath  in  his 
case  was  necessary?  which  would  not  have  been  the  case  had  he  been 
black.— Ed, tor 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  45 

mentary  proof  that  he  was  a  freeman.  By  the  kindness  of 
the  jailer  and  the  aid  of  money  he  had  with  him,  he  was 
enabled  to  send  a  messenger  to  Raleigh,  who  in  due  time  re 
turned  with  the  certificate  of  his  emancipation.  But  the 
journey  to  Raleigh  and  return  to  Natchez  could  not  be,  and 
was  not  at  that  time  in  fact  accomplished  in  less  time  than 
three  months.  It  ought  to  have  been  mentioned,  that  a  few 
hours  after  the  arrival  of  Melbourn  at  Natchez,  Maria,  with 
the  other  slaves,  were  embarked  on  board  of  a  boat  for  New 
Orleans. 

Upon  being  set  at  liberty,  Mr.  Melbourn  went  immediately 
to  New  Orleans.  When  he  came  to  that  city,  he  learned 
that  the  greater  part  of  Johnson's  slaves  had  been  disposed  of 
at  auction,  but  that  Maria  had  been  sold  for  a  great  price  at 
private  sale,  to  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  McGuire  ;  that 
in  less  than  a  week  she  was  again  sold  on  an  execution 
against  McGuire,  and  bid  off  for  a  planter,  who  resided  about 
fifty  miles  from  New  Orleans,  by  one  Perry,  an  eastern  ad 
venturer,  who  was  the  planter's  overseer.  Thither  Mr.  Mel 
bourn  immediately  went ;  but  on  his  arrival  at  the  residence 
of  the  planter,  he  heard,  to  his  unspeakable  grief,  that  Maria 
had,  from  the  time  she  was  carried  there,  been  afflicted  with 
a  deep  melancholy  ;  and  about  a  month  before  that  time,  had 
made  her  escape  from  the  house  in  the  evening  and  drowned 
herself  in  the  river.  Though  her  body  could  not  be  found, 
the  place  where  she  perpetrated  the  act  had  been  ascertained 
by  the  marks  which  remained  of  her  footsteps  on  the  brink 
of  the  river,  and  some  of  the  clothes  that  she  wore  from  the 
house  were  found  on  the  shore  near  where  her  tracks  were 
discovered.  A  negro  woman,  belonging  to  the  family,  had 
preserved  such  of  her  clothes  as  were  found,  which  she  pro 
duced  and  exhibited  to  Mr.  Melbourn.  Upon  examining 
them,  ho  found  pinned  in  her  frock-bosom  the  following 
stanza,  in  the  handwriting  of  Maria,  and  which  he  recollected 


46  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

to  have  read  in  one  of  the  periodicals  belonging  to  Mrs.  St. 
John : 

"  Shall  they  bury  me  in  the  deep, 
Where  wind -forgetting  waters  sleep? 
Shall  they  dig  a  grave  for  me 
Under  the  green- wood  tree  ? 
Or  on  the  wild  heath, 
Where  the  wilder  breath 
Of  the  storm  doth  blow  ? 
Oh,  no  !  oh,  no  !" 

"  There  was  now  nothing  on  earth,"  says  Mr.  Melbourn  in 
his  memoirs,  "  which  attached  me  to  life  except  my  son. 
The  succession  of  misfortunes  that  befell  this  innocent  wo 
man,  without  any  fault  or  even  imprudence  of  her  own,  (un 
less  her  last  act  was  a  fault,)  and  her  melancholy  end, 
impressed  me  with  feelings  the  most  painful  ;  and  it  was  at 
that  time  exceedingly  difficult  for  me  to  reconcile  her  fate 
with  the  belief  of  an  overruling  Providence,  of  a  merciful  and 
just  God." 

Melbourn  now  abandoned  in  utter  despair  all  further  search 
for  his  wife,  and  returned,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  with  a  heavy 
heart  and  bruised  and  broken  spirit,  to  Raleigh.  There  he 
remained  until  the  year  1815,  when  he  became  twenty-five 
years  old,  and  when,  in  pursuance  of  the  directions  contained 
in  the  will  of  Mrs.  Melbourn,  he  took  possession  of  the  estate 
which  had  been  bequeathed  to  him  by  that  worthy  and  ex- 
cclk'nt  lady.  That  estate  had,  by  the  careful  management 
of  Mr.  Smith,  and  by  a  judicious  investment  during  the  war 
in  U.  S.  stocks,  then  20  per  cent,  below  par,  by  this  time 
accumulated  so  that  it  amounted  to  upwards  of  $30,000. 

Mr.  Melbourn  having  caused  that  sum  to  be  safely  invest 
ed,  and  made  suitable  provision  for  the  nurture  and  educa 
tion  of  his  son,  determined  to  spend  his  time  principally  in 
travelling ;  and  in  order  to  avoid  the  risk  he  would  be  com 
pelled  to  incur,  he  declined  entering  into  any  commercial 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  47 

business.  He  had  no  disposition  to  form  any  intimate  social 
connection  ;  indeed,  his  African  blood  precluded  him  from 
mingling  in  polished  and  elegant  circles  on  a  footing  of  equali 
ty,  and  his  own  self-respect  restrained  him  from  associating 
with  any  persons  on  any  other  terms. 

To  his  ardent  mind  the  northern  cities  presented  the 
strongest  attraction,  and  he  therefore  determined  to  spend  the 
greater  part  of  his  time  in  them,  not  as  a  citizen  of  the  city 
in  which  he  might  sojourn,  but  as  a  citizen  of  the  world — a 
mere  "looker  on  in  Venice."  In  pursuance  of  this  determi 
nation,  he  actually  spent  nearly  the  whole  of  the  twenty  years 
following  in  travelling  and  in  observing  men  and  manners ; 
and  his  reminiscences  of  the  observations  then  made  by  him 
on  what  he  saw  and  heard,  are  contained  in  the  following 
sheets,  written  down  by  him,  as  it  would  seem,  after  he  emi 
grated  to  England. 

But  to  conclude  Mr.  Melbourn's  account  of  his  own  life, 
we  must  here  add,  that  after  his  son  Edward  left  college, 
he  solicited  of  his  father  permission  to  visit  New  Orleans,  a 
city  rendered  deeply  interesting  to  him,  because  that  city  and 
its  vicinity  had  been  the  scene  of  the  suffering  and  awful 
death  of  his  mother.  To  this  Mr.  Melbourn  not  only  con 
sented,  but.  agreed  to  accompany  him  ;  and  on  the  10th  day 
of  April,  1835,  they  left  Philadelphia,  where  they  then  tem 
porarily  resided,  for  the  great  city  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Melbourn  and  his  son  at  New 
Orleans,  they  inquired  for,  and  soon  learned  the  place  of  resi 
dence  of  Mr.  De  Lisle,  the  planter  to  whom  Maria  was  sold, 
and  forthwith  visited  him. 

The  residue  of  Melbourn's  history  is  brief,  and  therefore 
we  shall  copy  his  own  words  from  his  manuscript,  with  this 
sl.igle  remark — that  what  he  says  towards  the  close  of  it,  in 
relation  to  the  United  States  as  compared  with  Great  Britain, 
may  be,  and  probably  is,  unjust  as  respects  this  country,  and 
too  highly  laudatory  of  Great  Britain  ;  but  when  the  liberal- 


48  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

minded  reader  recollects  his  position  in  society  in  the  United 
States,  and  his  sufferings  under  our  laws  and  civil  institu 
tions,  he  will  find,  if  riot  a  justification  of  Mr.  M.'s  allega 
tions  and  opinions,  at  least  an  excuse  for  his  prejudices. 

Mr.  Melbourn,  in  his  autobiography,  says  : 

Mr.  De  Lisle  was  quite  an  old  man,  and  was  brought  with 
difficulty  to  recollect  that  he  had  ever  been  the  owner  of  Ma 
ria.  At  length,  however,  he  remembered  her,  and  said  she 
was 'dead.  We  inquired  for  the  overseer,  Perry,  and  were 
told  that  several  years  before  he  became  embroiled  in  a  quar 
rel,  which  occurred  in  a  neighboring  village,  and  was  stabbed 
by  a  Spaniard.  There  was  an  old  female  slave  who  remem 
bered  Maria  well.  "  The  poor  creature,"  she  said,  "  cried  a 
great  deal  after  she  came  with  us  ;  I  thought  it  was  because 
she  had  to  work  in  the  field  ;  but  she  told  me  she  did  not 
mind  that,  if  Mr.  Perry  would  let  her  alone.  The  evening 
she  went  away  I  got  some  good  hominy  and  carried  it  to  her, 
but  she  said  she  could  not  eat  it.  She  was  very  handsome, 
and  spoke  in  a  kind,  sweet  voice."  I  asked  the  woman  if 
she  knew  where  Maria  was  drowned.  She  said  she  did,  and 
at  my  request  her  mistress  permitted  her  to  go  with  us  to 
point  out  the  place.  The  road  passed  near  the  bank  of  the 
river  at  the  spot  pointed  out.  "  And  here,"  said  she,  "  is  the 
very  tree  her  frock  hung  on.  Lordy  !  how  much  it  has  grown  ; 
it  was  then  but  a  bush."  Edward's  eyes  were  filled  with 
tears.  I  stood  like  a  statue,  unable  to  move  or  speak, — all 
my  first  love  revived  in  my  bosom.  At  that  time  how  poor, 
"  flat  and  unprofitable  seemed  to  me  all  the  uses  of  this  world." 
The  source  of  my  happiness  was  dried  up.  Hope  itself  was 
extinguished. 

We  lingered  some  time  around  that  fatal  spot,  that  last 
trace  of  my  ill-fated  Maria.  At  length,  entering  the  carriage, 
we  rode  about  twenty  miles,  and  stopped  at  a  small  village 
on  the  road  to  New  Orleans,  where  we  designed  to  remain 
until  the  next  day.  The  evening  being  very  pleasant,  after 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  49 

tea  I  walked  through  the  village,  which  was  beautifully  situa 
ted  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  In  returning  to  my  lodgings  I 
passed  a  small  brick  building,  having  the  appearance  of  a 
Methodist  chapel.  A  religious  assembly  were  gathered  there, 
and  were  then  singing  a  hymn.  To  see  what  kind  of  people 
were  collected  on  this  occasion,  and  to  wear  away  a  part  of  the 
evening,  I  stepped  into  the  house.  It  being  quite  full,  I  took 
a  seat  near  the  door.  Among  the  singers  was  a  woman  in 
the  dress  of  a  Quaker,  with  a  hymn-book  in  her  hand,  on 
which  her  eyes  were  intently  fixed,  whose  features  forcibly 
brought  Maria  to  my  remembrance.  I  looked  again  ;  the 
resemblance  was  so  perfect,  that,  forgetting  for  a  moment  the 
impossibility  of  her  being  alive,  a  faintness  came  over  me. 
It  soon  occurred  to  my  mind  that  it  was  an  illusion  of  fancy, 
produced  by  the  scenes  so  recently  visited.  I  involuntarily 
groaned  audibly.  The  woman  looked  up  and  saw  me.  She 
instantly  turned  pale,  gave  a  piercing  shriek,  and  fell  to  the 
floor.  "  Mighty  God  !"  I  exclaimed,  "  it  is — it  is  my  Maria  /" 
Regardless  of  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  and  every  one 
around  me,  I  sprang  towards  her  and  raised  her  in  my  arms. 
The  congregation  was  in  confusion  :  some  ran  for  water,  oth 
ers  seized  hold  of  me,  until  at  length  I  recovered  sufficient 
recollection  to  say  that  this  was  my  wife,  whom  I  had  for 
many  years  believed  dead.  I  caressed  her  and  called  her  by 
name.  At  the  sound  of  my  voice,  so  long  unheard,  she  re 
vived,  and  uttered  a  few  incoherent  words  ;  every  effort 
was  made  to  restore  her — but  for  some  time  her  mind  was 
much  bewildered.  She  would  cry  out,  "  Take  care  !  take 
care !  there  they  come  to  take  me  away !  where  is  my  dagger  ? 
I  will  never  go  alive  !"  I  will  not  continue  a  description  of 
this  scene.  She  at  length  became  calm  ;  her  first  inquiry 
after  the  return  of  her  reason,  was  for  her  child.  I  told  her 
he  was  alive  and  well,  but  dare  not  tell  her  he  was  so  near. 
Maria  fell  on  her  knees  and  poured  forth  a  prayer  of  thanks 
giving  and  praise.  It  was  eloquent,  because  it  was  the  over- 

4 


50  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

flowing  of  her  heart.  The  whole  audience  joined  her,  and 
responded  with  an  audible  "  amen."  Maria  was  conveyed 
to  her  home  near  by  the  chapel,  and  I  hastened  to  seek  Ed 
ward  with  the  joyful  intelligence  that  his  mother  lived.  He 
could  not  be  restrained  from  seeing  her  that  night,  and  I  re 
turned  to  prepare  her  for  the  interview.  I  will  not  attempt 
to  describe  the  affecting  scene  which  followed.  Maria  was 
constantly  distressed  by  the  fear  of  being  discovered  ;  and  so 
long  had  she  endured  life  without  hope,  that  it  was  with  diffi 
culty  she  could  be  made  to  believe  that  I  had  abundant  means 
to  procure  her  ransom,  and  that  no  possible  danger  could  be 
apprehended.  The  reader  may  imagine  how  happy  and 
quiet  that  night  was  the  sleep  of  this  long-persecuted  being, 
this  victim  of  slavery. 

The  story  of  Maria  can  be  told  in  a  few  words.  After  she 
was  purchased  by  Perry  for  Mr.  De  Lisle,  as  I  have  before 
related,  she  was  taken  to  his  plantation  and  put  with  a  gang 
of  field-slaves,  where  her  fatigue,  privations,  and  sufferings 
were  severe,  almost  beyond  description.  But  even  these  suf 
ferings  were  imbittered  by  the  rude  treatment  she  met  with 
from  the  other  slaves.  Their  hostility  to  her  was  occasioned 
by  the  circumstance  that  she  kept  aloof  from  them.  This 
hostility  exhibited  itself*in  various  ways.  Every  thing  that 
was  done  wrong,  or  which  was  left  undone  which  was  re 
quired  to  be  done,  was  charged  upon  her,  and  she  was 
scourged  daily.  Perry,  who  had  behaved  to  her  with  brutal 
indecency,  had  commanded  her  to  come  to  his  room  more 
than  once,  which  she  had  peremptorily  refused  to  do.  On 
the  day  previous  to  the  evening  of  her  escape,  she  was  told 
by  a  female  slave  that  Perry  had  given  directions  to  two  of 
the  men  to  bring  her  by  force  to  his  room  at  eleven  o'clock 
that  evening. 

From  the  time  of  the  sale  of  McGuire's  effects,  Maria  had 
abandoned  all  hope  of  ever  again  seeing  me  or  her  child. 
Since  she  was  brought  to  the  plantation  and  compelled  to  la- 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  51 

bor  in  the  field,  with  the  poor  and  scanty  food  allowed  her, 
besides  suffering  daily  from  the  whip  of  the  unmerciful  task- 
master,  she  felt  that  her  life  would  soon  be  ended,  and  she 
reasoned  that  it  was  preferable  to  die  pure  and  uncontami. 
nated,  than  to  wear  out  the  few  days  which  might  be  allotted 
to  her  in  infamy  and  wo.  The  struggle  was  long  in  her 
mind,  but  this  last  intelligence  drove  her  to  desperation,  and 
in  the  evening  she  silently  left  the  cabin  and  descended  to  the 
river,  determined  to  find  her  grave  there.  That  it  might  -be 
known  what  had  become  of  her,  she  divested  herself  of  some 
articles  of  her  dress,  and  hung  them  on  a  bush.  The  road 
at  that  place  approaches  near  the  river  ;  and  at  that  point  is 
a  bluff  of  land  which  rises  suddenly,  so  that  a  person  travel 
ling  the  road  cannot  be  seen  many  yards  from  the  place  where 
Maria  stood.  It  was  a  calm  moonlight  night.  She  had  taken, 
as  she  believed,  a  last  look  upon  the  earth  and  sky,  and  ejac 
ulated  a  prayer  for  her  husband  and  son.  At  the  moment 
she  was  about  to  take  the  fatal  plunge,  a  gig,  in  which  was  a 
lady  and  servant,  came  in  sight.  "  Stop,"  said  the  lady,  in  a 
firm  voice,  "what  is  thee  doing?"  Maria  instantly  recog-- 
nised  the  language  of  a  Quaker,  having  been  acquainted  with 
some  members  of  a  society  of  Friends  in  North  Carolina,  and 
she  knew  that  they  were  riot  only  friends  to  each  other,  but 
friends  of  man  and  of  the  slave.  She  instantly  ran  to  the 
carriage  and  cried,  "  Save  me  !  O  save  me  !  I  am  a  wretch 
ed  creature  who  cannot  live,  and  ought  not  thus  to  die."  In 
a  few  words  she  related  to  the  lady  her  situation.  Mrs.  Ben 
son,  (for  that  was  the  name  of  the  lady,)  with  great  presence 
of  mind,  told  her  to  get  into  the  carriage,  gave  her  a  cloak  to 
cover  herself,  and  advised  her  to  leave  the  dress  hanging  on  a 
tree,  as  that  might  prevent  pursuit.  Mrs.  Benson  was  the 
widow  of  a  Quaker  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  who 
some  years  before  had  come  to  New  Orleans  and  carried  on 
mercantile  business  there,  but  had  died  not  long  before,  leav 
ing  no  children.  His  whole  estate,  which  was  not  large,  he 


52  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

gave  to  his  wife,  and  made  her  sole  executrix.  It  became 
necessary  for  her  to  reside  in  Louisiana,  at  least  until  the 
estate  was  settled,  and  not  being  pleased  with  the  noise  and 
bustle  of  the  city,  she  purchased  a  neat  cottage  near  the  vil 
lage  of  La  Grange,  where  she  then  resided.  On  the  day  of 
which  we  are  speaking,  she  had  been  to  visit  a  friend,  who 
resided  a  little  below  De  Lisle's  plantation,  and  to  avoid  the 
heat  of  the  day,  concluded  (providentially)  to  drive  home  that 
fine  moonlight  night.  She  charged  the  boy,  a  negro,  who 
scrupulously  obeyed  her  injunctions,  never,  on  pain  of  her  dis 
pleasure,  to  mention  to  any  person  where  they  had  found  Maria, 
and  before  morning  this  long-oppressed  but  unoffending  wo 
man  was  lodged  in  a  neat  secluded  room  in  the  cottage  of 
Mrs.  Benson. 

The  following  morning  that  good  woman  communicated 
to  Maria,  whose  fears  and  anxiety  had  prevented  her  enjoy 
ing  one  moment's  sleep,  a  scheme  which  she  thought  might 
save  her.  The  sister  of  Mrs.  Benson  had,  many  years 
before,  married  a  Spanish  gentleman,  who  was  a  resident  of 
Cuba.  Mrs.  B.  proposed  that  Maria  should  pass  for  the 
daughter  of  that  sister,  who  had  come  to  visifr  and  remain 
with  her  as  a  companion.  As  the  complexion  of  Maria. was 
not  darker,  nor  indeed  quite  so  dark  as  a  majority  of  the  de 
scendants  of  the  Spaniards  on  that  island,  she  thought  it  not 
difficult  successfully  to  carry  out  the  scheme.  Mrs.  B.  fur 
nished  her  with  suitable  dresses,  and  as  she  was  not  supposed 
to  be  able  to  speak  either  English  or  French,  the  only  lan 
guages  spoken  in  the  village  and  its  vicinity,  she  was  for  a 
long  time  relieved  from  joining  in  any  conversation  which 
took  place  in  her  presence. 

The  plan  was  entirely  successful ;  and  very  soon  Maria, 
who  was  supposed  to  have  drowned  herself,  was  forgotten  by 
Mr.  De  Lisle  and  his  people.  Maria  concluded  that  I  was 
dead  ;  and  she  conjectured,  not  without  reason,  that  I  had 
been  murdered  by  Johnson  or  some  of  his  agents,  in  the 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  53 

neighborhood  of  Natchez.  At  all  events,  she  was  confident 
of  my  death,  on  account  of  my  not  coming  to  New  Orleans, 
after  having  pursued  her  so  near  that  city  as  Natchez.  Her 
anxiety  about  the  fate  of  her  child  was  intense  ;  but  what 
could  she  do  ?  She  dared  not  attempt  a  journey  of  one  thou 
sand  miles  through  slaveholding  states.  It  was  certain  she 
would,  in  the  attempt  to  execute  such  a  project,  be  taken  up 
and  recaptured,  or  sold  as  a  slave.  Mrs.  Benson  entirely 
concurred  in  this  opinion.  To  write  by  mail  to  Raleigh  was 
equally  hazardous.  Mr.  Smith  and  Mr.  Parker  were  the 
only  persons  to  whom  she  dare  communicate  the  fact  of  her 
existence.  The  letter  might  be  opened  by  the  postmasters, 
or  the  gentlemen  might  be  dead  or  removed  ;  and  if  by  any 
means  her  existence  was  discovered,  slavery  was  her  inevi 
table  doom.  These  considerations,  long  before  I  found  her, 
had  determined  her  to  live  and  die  under  the  protection  of 
Mrs.  Benson,  and  that  her  secret  should  die  with  her. 

I  rendered  my  thanks  to  Mrs.  Benson  with  deep  feelings  of 
reverence  and  gratitude.  I  begged  her  to  accept  of  some 
reward,  which  she  refused,  but  I  quite  forced  upon  her  a  sum 
of  money.  In  order  that  my  long-lost  wife  might  become  my 
own  property,  and  that  no  chances  hereafter  might  be  left  for 
her  last  owner  or  his  heirs  to  claim  her,  I  returned  with  Ma 
ria  to  the  house  of  Mr.  De  Lisle,  and  informed  him  of  her 
existence,  and  in  a  brief  manner  made  him  acquainted  with 
her  history  and  my  own.  He  listened  attentively  during  the 
recital,  and  showed  evidence  of  much  feeling  and  kindness 
of  heart.  I  proposed  to  restore  him  the  money  paid  for  Ma 
ria,  with  the  interest  from  that  time,  and  requested  him  to 
make  a  conveyance  of  her  to  me.  "  No,"  said  the  generous 
old  Frenchman,  "  you  have  both  had  trouble  enough — I  will 
take  nothing."  I  remonstrated  with  him  without  effect;  he 
sent  for  a  scrivener,  and  executed  a  bill  of  sale  of  Maria  to 
me.  On  receiving  it,  I  could  not  refrain  from  taking  Maria 
in  my  arms,  saying,  "  Now,  indeed,  you  are  mine  by  the 


54  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

laws  of  God  and  man."  She  could  not  utter  a  word,  but  her 
countenance  was  lighted  up  with  a  smile,  and  her  eyos  swam 
in  tears. 

Maria  found  old  Dinah,  the  female  slave  who  had  shown 
her  some  kindness,  and  gave  her  thanks  for  her  services,  and 
offers  of  any  favors  we  could  bestow.  I  proposed  to  pur 
chase  her  freedom  ;  but  Dinah  said  she  was  old,  and  loved 
her  mistress,  who  was  now  infirm,  and  needed  the  attendance 
of  an  old  faithful  servant.  Freedom  would  have  been  sweet 
to  her  in  youth,  but  now  she  was  old,  and  chose  to  die  in  the 
service  of  her  kind  mistress.  The  old  gentleman  was  de 
lighted  with  this  answer.  I  did  not  urge  my  offer,  but  made 
her  a  present  of  several  eagles. 

The  parting  of  Maria  with  Mrs.  Benson  was  tenderly  af 
fecting  ;  her  last  words  to  her  were,  "  Remember,  my  child, 
never  again  to  distrust  Providence — never  doubt  that  our 
heavenly  Father  will  do  all  for  the  best ;  and  we,"  said  she, 
looking  at  me,  "  shall  be  convinced  of  it,  either  in  this  world 
or  the  world  to  come."  At  New  Orleans  we  stopped  a  few 
days,  where  I  proposed  to  purchase  for  my  wife  such  dresses 
as  became  her  present  condition  ;  but  she  insisted  then,  and 
always  afterwards,  on  dressing  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  Quakers. 

One  day  a  servant  brought  me  a  note,  signed  George  W. 
Johnson,  and  dated  at  New  Orleans  jail.  He  stated,  that 
having  heard  of  my  being  in  the  city,  he  took  leave  to  inform 
me  that  he  was  in  jail  on  a  criminal  charge  ;  that  he  had 
lost  all  his  estate,  was  entirely  destitute  of  money,  and  should 
inevitably  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  unless  he  could  raise  a 
little  money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  defence.  He  ac 
knowledged  he  did  not  deserve  any  favors  of  me,  but  he  had 
no  friend  to  apply  to;  adding,  that  my  generosity  was 
well  known,  which  had  emboldened  him  to  make  the  appli 
cation  to  me.  Though  I  regarded  him  as  a  monster  of  vice 
and  crime,  and  in  an  especial  manner  despised  his  meanness 


V 

LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  55 

of  spirit,  yet  he  was  the  son  of  the  man  in  whose  house  I  was 
born,  and  whatever  were  his  former  crimes,  he  was  now  a 
fellow-being  in  distress.  I  therefore  sent  him  fifty  dollars. 
It  was  said  he  had  wasted  a  large  fortune  by  gambling  and 
dissipation  ;  that  eventually  he  took  charge  of  a  faro-table, 
and  had  been  guilty  of  swindling,  for  which  offence  he  was 
indicted  and  then  in  jail.  He  was  convicted  on  trial. 

I  cannot  omit  to  relate  another  circumstance  which  took 
place  while  we  remained  in  New  Orleans.  Walking  one  day 
near  the  river,  a  little  above  the  batteau,  I  saw  some  white  men 
chasing  two  negroes,  who  were  running  towards  the  river — 
and  when  they  came  to  it,  plunged  in.  The  white  men  pro 
cured  a  boat  and  rowed  after  them.  The  exhausted  strength 
of  one  of  the  fugitives  began  to  flag,  and  he  fell  behind  the 
other.  The  boatmen  called  for  him  to  surrender ;  but  he 
seemed  to  prefer  death  to  captivity,  and  sunk  to  rise  no 
more.  The  other  fugitive  was  taken,  and,  together  with  the 
drowned  man,  was  brought  to  the  shore.  I  was  so  intently 
gazing  on  this  dreadful  scene,  that  I  did  not  observe  a  gentle 
man  standing  near  me,  who,  as  so6n  as  the  party  landed,  and 
we  came  to  them,  exclaimed,  on  looking  at  the  face  of  the 
dead  man,  "  Great  God !  this  was  my  own  body-servant 
when  I  lived  in  Nantucket ;  he  was  a  free  citizen  of  Massa 
chusetts."  Upon  looking  at  th^  gentleman,  I  recognised  him 
at  once  :  it  was  the  celebrated  JACOB  BARKER,  who  then  re 
sided  in  New  Orleans,  but  whom  I  had  formerly  known  in 
New  York.  His  feelings  were  deeply  excited. 

Jacob  Barker,  though  as  a  merchant,  a  banker,  or  a  politician 
he  may  have  committed  errors,  is  a  man  possessed  of  a  great 
soul,  of  much  magnanimity  and  generosity,  of  deep  and  in 
tense  sympathy  for  misfortune  and  distress.  He  is  the  bold 
and  zealous  advocate  of  human  rights,  and  the  uncompromis 
ing  friend  of  the  slave.  For  these  Godlike  traits  in  his 
character  the  recording  angel  will  blot  out  with  tears  his  er- 
rors. 


56  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

One  day  we  were  discoursing  on  the  iniquity  of  the  laws 
in  relation  to  persons  of  color,  when  he  related  the  following 
circumstance.  He  was  walking  in  New  Orleans,  and  came 
across  his  old  house-servant  in  New  York,  chained  to  a  can 
non-ball  by  one  of  his  legs,  and  at  work  upon  the  public 
street.  He  asked  his  old  friend,  with  astonishment,  how  he 
came  in  such  a  condition  ?  The  reply  was,  that  he  came  to 
New  Orleans  in  a  New  York  vessel,  in  the  capacity  of  cook, 
steward,  or  sailor,  and  was  seized  at  the  moment  of  his  arri 
val,  and  imprisoned  in  the  jail  during  the  night,  and  com 
pelled  to  work  in  the  street  during  the  day — and  that  they 
would  sell  him  as  a  slave  if  Mr.  Barker  did  not  interfere  for 
his  relief.  Mr.  Barker  promised  to  do  all  he  could  for  his 
afflicted  friend,  and  to  visit  him  in  his  dungeon  the  following 
evening.  According  to  his  promise  he  called  at  the  captive's 
dungeon,  and  while  conversing  with  him  through  the  diamond 
hole,  saw  five  other  poor  northern  sailors,  in  the  same  condi 
tion  with  his  friend,  shut  up  in  the  same  room  with  him. 
Hopelessly  separated  from  all  human  aid,  they  too  were  to  be 
sold  into  perpetual  slavery  unless  they  could  enlist  Mr.  Barker 
in  their  behalf.  His  sympathies  were  irresistibly  excited,  and 
he  brought  their  case  before  the  police,  and  after  a  sacrifice  of 
several  days'  time,  and  an  expense  of  about  835  in  each  of 
their  cases,  which  he  paid  out  oi"  his  own  pocket,  he  succeeded 
in  rescuing  those  wretched  men  from  a  doom  worse  than  death. 

After  leaving  New  Orleans  I  travelled  leisurely,  stop 
ping  a  few  days  in  some  of  the  larger  towns,  and,  late  in  the 
surnmer,  arrived  with  my  wife  and  son  at  Raleigh.  Our 
few  friends  there  received  us  with  the  most  cordial  welcome, 
especially  Maria,  whom  they  truly  considered  as  one  raised 
from  the  dead. 

I  had  now  with  me,  my  wife,  the  object  of  my  first,  my 
dean  st  affection,  and  my  son,  who  possessed  a  highly-culti 
vated  "mind  and  most  amiable  temper.  I  had  also,  by  some 
successful  speculations,  and  by  prudent  though  not  parsimo- 


LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN.  57 

nious  economy,  added  to  the  $30,000  of  capital  that  Mr. 
Smith  in  1815  delivered  into  my  possession,  so  that  the  whole 
amounted  to  the  sum  of  $50,000,  and  yet  I  was  not  happy — 
not  contented.  The  cause  of  my  discontent  grew  out  of  my 
dissatisfaction  with  the  customs  and  the  opinions  of  the  soci 
ety  in  which  I  lived,  and  the  laws  and  civil  institutions  of  the 
country  in  which  I  was  born.  This  dissatisfaction  was  oc 
casioned,  first,  by  the  despotism  of  what  is  called  public 
opinion. 

If  an  individual,  on  politics,  religion,  morals,  or  the  cus 
toms  of  society,  ventures  to  express  an  opinion  different  from 
the  generally  received  opinions  of  the  community,  though 
the  law  secures  him  from  being,  like  Servetus,  burnt  at 
the  stake,  or  hanged  by  the  neck,  as  the  Pilgrims  did  the 
Quakers,  he  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  ostracized,  he 
is  denounced  as  a  dangerous  person ;  nothing  said  by  him 
is  entitled  to  the  least  consideration,  or  rather,  if  he  ex 
presses  an  opinion  on  any  subject,  it  is  received  as  prima 
facie  evidence  that  such  opinion  and  all  who  concur  in  it  are 
wrong ;  his  society  is  avoided  as  one  avoids  a  person  affected 
with  a  contagious  disease,  and  not  only  himself,  but  all  who 
speak  of  him  or  his  opinion  favorably,  are  denounced  as  ut 
terly  unworthy  of  confidence  or  respect. 

Secondly — I  was  unwilling  to  live  and  die  in  a  country 
where  the  laws  sustained  and  justified  such  disregard  to  indi 
vidual  rights,  and  tolerated  such  inhumanity  as  was  mani 
fested  in  the  treatment  of  myself  and  my  wife  ;  and  more 
especially  was  I  unwilling  to  spend  my  days  in  a  country 
which  enslaved  and  treated  as  goods  and  chattels — as  brutes — 
at  least  one-sixth  part  of  its  inhabitants. 

Thirdly — My  son  (as  I  thought)  possessed  fine  talents 
and  a  mind  well  cultivated,  but  the  evidence  that  he  was 
allied  to  the  negro  race  was  stamped  on  his  features.  This 
circumstance  was  sufficient,  however  meritorious  or  talented 
he  might  be,  to  exclude  him  from  all  hope  of  promotion 


58  LIFE    OF    JULIUS    MELBOURN. 

to  places  of  honor  or  profit,  and,  indeed,  from  any  inter, 
course  with  genteel  or  even  decent  society  among  the 
white  population  of  the  country.  If  we  should  choose  our 
residence  in  any  of  the  free  states  of  the  Union,  instead 
of  bettering  his  condition,  it  would  in  this  respect  render 
it  more  hopeless ;  for  it  is  a  fact,  which  cannot  be  con 
tradicted,  that  the  prejudice  against  color  is  greater  in  the 
Northern,  particularly  in  the  New  England  free  states,  than 
in  the  Southern  slaveholding  states.  This  last  consideration, 
I  confess,  had  more  influence  on  my  feelings  than  any  other. 
The  thought  was  too  painiul,  that  my  dear  and  only  child, 
whom  I  knew  to  be  virtuous,  endowed  with  a  warm  heart 
and  with  vigorous  intellectual  powers,  should  be  treated  as 
belonging  to  an  inferior  race  of  beings.  These  considera 
tions  determined  me  to  leave  the  United  States,  and  pass  the 
remainder  of  my  days  in  Great  Britain.  My  pecuniary  af 
fairs  were  so  arranged  as  to  require  very  little  time  for  pre 
paration  to  carry  this  resolution  into  effect.  I  procured  let 
ters  to  the  American  charge  d'affaires  in  London,  and  from 
several  merchants  in  Philadelphia, :to  merchants  in  Liverpool 
and  London,  and  on  the  first  of  October,  1835,  with  my  wife 
and  son,  sailed  from  New  York. 

There  was  an  old  female  slave  to  whom  Maria  was  much 
attached,  who  had  been  sold  at  the  auction  of  St.  John's 
goods  to  a  gentleman  in  Raleigh.  I  had  purchased  her  free 
dom,  and  she  now  insisted  on  following  my  wife  to  England ; 
and  she  continues  to  this  day  a  hired  servant  in  my  family. 
We  had  a  quick  and  pleasant  passage  to  Liverpool.  There 
were  a  great  number  of  passengers,  among  whom  we  formed 
some  agreeable  acquaintances.  It  is  true,  that  on  the  second 
day  out,  some  ladies  from  Boston  objected  to  the  admission  of 
my  wife  to  the  dinner-table,  but  the  captain,  a  stiff  John  Bull, 
soon  settled  the  jnatter,  and  the  Boston  ladies  being  informed 
that  Mrs.  Melbourn  was  a  rich  Southerner,  gave  up  their 
scruples,  and  treated  her  with  great  politeness. 


LIFE    OF   JULIUS    MELBOURN.  59 

We  landed  at  Liverpool,  and  after  visiting  Manchester, 
London,  Bristol,  and  Bath,  and,  indeed,  after  travelling  through 
most  of  the  counties  in  England,  having  spent  the  winter  in 
London,  and  seen  many  of  the  distinguished  statesmen  of  this 
wonderful  country,  took  up  our  abode  at  an  excellent  hotel  in 
Warwick,  where  we  still  continue  to  reside.  Warwick  is  a 
delightful  town,  and  contains  many  excellent  inhabitants, 
with  whom  we  enjoy  an  intercourse  both  agreeable  and  use 
ful.  That  courtesy  and  respect  which  was  shown  me  in 
America  in  consequence  of  my  wealth,  or  reluctantly  yielded 
as  condescending  favor  and  grace,  is  here  rendered  to  me  as 
being  my  due,  as  a  member  of  the  human  family,  and  an 
educated  and  enlightened  man.  The  surrounding  country  is 
richly  cultivated,  the  town  of  Warwick  is  well  built,  and  on 
its  borders  rise  the  august  towers,  in  all  the  sublimity  of 
Gothic  grandeur,  of  the  ancient  castle  of  Warwick,  whence 
the  "  king-maker"  in  days  of  yore  sallied  forth  with  his  thou 
sand  men-at-arms. 

My  son,  after  serving  one  year  as  a  clerk,  has  become  a  part 
ner  in  a  respectable  mercantile  house  in  London,  and  I  have 
advanced  him  $20,000  as  his  share  of  the  capital  to  be  used  in 
the  concern.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  know  that  he  is  well 
received  in  genteel  circles  in  London,  and  that  the  circum 
stance  of  his  being  connected  with  the  African  race  is  not  re 
garded  to  his  prejudice. 


OPINIONS   AND   REMINISCENCES 


OF 


JULIUS  MELBOURN 


THE  following1  sheets  contain  some  of  my  reminiscences  from 
the  year  1815  to  the  year  1835,  and  also  some  reflections  which 
have  occurred  to  me  since  I  have  resided  in  England.  They  are 
of  course  very  desultory,  and  inserted  without  much  order,  as  to 
time,  and  without  regular  arrangement,  as  respects  the  subjects 
of  remarks. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Author  sets  out  on  his  Tour  to  the  North — Meets  with  Mr.  St.  John 
at  Norfolk — Visits  Mr.  Jefferson — Dinner-party  at  Mr.  Jefferson's — Con 
versation  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  Chief-Justice  Marshall,  Mr.  Samuel  Dexter, 
Doct.  Mitchell,  Mr.  Wirt,  and  Elder  John  Leland,  on  lawyers  and  the 
practice  of  law,  state  rights,  the  capacity  of  the  African  race,  and 
negro  slavery  in  the  United  States. 

AFTER  I  had  completed  my  settlement  with  the  execu 
tor  of  Mrs.  Melbourn,  I  made  preparations  for  a  northern 
tour,  and  in  July,  1815,  commenced  my  journey.  I  had 
heard  Mr.  Jefferson  so  much  talked  of,  had  read  sb  much 
about  him  in  the  newspapers,  and  so  much  of  his  own 
writings,  of  which  I  was  a  great  admirer,  that  my  curios 
ity  was  intense  to  see  and  converse  with  that  great  man. 
At  my  request  Mr.  Pendleton*  gave  me  a  letter  of  intro 
duction  to  him,  which  was  the  only  letter  I  took  with  me. 
Mr.  Pendleton,  according  to  my  express  desire,  in  his 
communication  to  Mr.  Jefferson  stated  briefly  my  history, 
or  so  much  of  it  as  was  necessary,  to  apprize  him  that  I 
was  born  a  slave,  and  that  I  was  partially  of  African 
descent. 

I  travelled  by  stage-coach  on  the  old  route  to  Norfolk, 
in  Virginia.  In  this  city  I  saw  Mr.  St.  John.  He  had 
become  corpulent,  and  was  almost  incapable  of  locomo 
tion,  stupid,  and  brutally  senseless.  He  was  a  loathsome 

*  Mr.  Pendleton  was  a  lawyer,  who  resided  in  North  Carolina,  men 
tioned  by  Mr.  Melbourn  in  a  part  of  his  Autobiography  which  the  Ed 
itor  in  the  sketch  prefixed  to  this  work  has  omitted. 


64  VISIT    TO    MR.    JEFFERSON. 

monument  of  intemperance,  and  a  lamentable  specimen 
of  those  wretched  creatures  who  ought  to  serve  as  bea 
cons  to  warn  young  men  against  indulgence  in  idleness, 
intemperance,  and  vice.  St.  John,  I  understood,  was  sup 
ported  by  a  small  allowance  paid  to  him  quarterly  by  a 
brother  of  his  father.  He  was  sunk  so  low  as  to  ask  me 
to  lend  him  twenty-five  cents.  I  gave  him  a  dollar. 

From  Norfolk  I  went  to  Monticello,  and  on  my  arrival 
there  was  much  gratified  to  learn  that  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
at  home.  I  was  conducted  to  his  study,  or  reading-room, 
where  I  found  him  sitting  at  a  table  covered  with  books 
and  papers.  He  rose  when  I  entered,  and  received  me 
with  great  politeness  and  apparent  cordiality.  I  instantly 
found  myself  at  perfect  ease  in  his  presence.  Though 
he  was  not,  and  I  presume  never  had  been,  a  handsome 
man,  there  was  such  strong  evidence  of  high  intellectual 
power  in  his  high  forehead,  and  in  the  form  of  his  face 
and  head,  that  I  could  not  fail  of  admiring  him.  A  phi 
losophical  calmness  and  a  glow  of  benevolence  were  so 
visibly  expressed  in  his  countenance,  and  so  distinctly 
marked  every  feature  of  his  face,  that  while  he  was  read 
ing  Mr.  Pendleton's  letter,  and  before  he  had  uttered  a 
word,  I  was  charmed  with  him,  and  loved  him  as  an  old 
and  familiar  friend.  I  suppose  that  part  of  Mr.  Pendle 
ton's  letter,  which  stated  that  I  was  born  a  slave,  and  was 
of  African  descent,  excited  his  curiosity,  for  he  immedi 
ately  commenced  a  conversation,  evidently  with  a  view 
to  ascertain  the  strength  of  my  mind,  and  to  what  degree 
it  had  been  cultivated.  He  inquired  of  me  whether  I  had 
seen  the  building  then  lately  erected  for  the  University  of 
Virginia,  and  said  he  intended  it  should  be  free  for  the 
instruction  of  all  sects  and  colors.  He  expressed  his  deep 
anxiety  for  the  improvement  of  the  minds,  and  elevation 


VISIT    TO    MR.    JEFFERSON.  65 

of  the  characters  of,  as  he  was  pleased  to  call  them,  "  our 
colored  brethren."  He  then  spoke  of  the  state  of  Eng 
lish  and  American  literature,  and  of  some  of  the  most 
eminent  authors,  whose  books  generally  constitute  the 
private  libraries  of  gentlemen  in  England  and  the  United 
States  ;  pausing  at  such  points  as  were  calculated  to  call 
out  a  reply  from  me — no  doubt  for  the  purpose  of  ascer 
taining  what  I  had  read,  and  what  reflections  I  had  made. 
I  recollect  of  expressing,  in  the  course  of  our  conversa 
tion,  a  very  high  opinion  of  Montesquieu's  Spirit  of  the 
Laws,  and  of  Hume  as  an  historian.  He  said  he  thought 
"  Montesquieu  was  too  partial  to  the  British  constitution  ; 
it  was  his  beau  ideal  of  a  perfect  government,  in  which," 
said  he,  "  it  is  well  known  I  differ  widely  from  him. 
Montesquieu,  however,"  he  said,  "  ought  to  be  excused, 
for  the  British  constitution,  if  that  may  be  called  a  consti 
tution  which  is  unwritten,  and  which  concedes  unrestricted 
and  omnipotent  power  to  the  executive  and  legislative 
departments,  when  combined,  was  unquestionably  the 
freest  and  best  in  the  world,  when  Montesquieu  wrote. 
There  is  less  ekcuse  for  the  eulogy  pronounced  by  my  old 
friend,  Mr.  John  Adams,  on  the  British  constitution,  in 
his  defence  of  the  American  government,  because  Mr. 
Adams  wrote  after  the  elaborate  discussions  respecting 
human  rights,  and  the  principles  of  government,  which 
occurred  during  the  American  revolution." 

"  Mr.  Hume,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  was  a  profound  and 
subtle  reasoner,  and  an  acute  metaphysician;  as  an  histori 
an,  too,  he  is  very  able,  and  arranges,  systematizes,  and 
generalizes  with  great  skill  and  talent,  but  he  wrote  to  please 
the  English  aristocracy  ;  and  I  think  from  high  venera 
tion,  and  perhaps  innate  love  for  hereditary  power,  he  im 
bibed  such  a  contempt  for  the  masses,  that  he  became 

5 


66  VISIT    TO    MR.    JEFFERSON. 

insensible  to  human  rights  ;  or  rather,  he  seems  to  have 
forgotten  that  they  had  any  rights,  or  if  they  had,  he  be 
lieved  that  they  were  utterly  incapable  of  judging  of  what 
was  for  their  best  good.  He  labors  through  the  whole  of 
his  history  to  represent  the  actions  of  the  masses  as  ab 
surd,  and  to  cast  ridicule  and  contempt  upon  all  their  at 
tempts  to  regain  their  natural  rights.  It  is  painful  that  so 
profound  a  thinker,  and  so  able  a  philosopher  as  David 
Hume,  should  have  finally  settled  down  in  the  professed 
belief  that  the  fitness  of  things  required  that  an  immense 
majority  of  men  should  be  slaves  to  a  pitiful  minority  of 
their  brethren.  His  veneration  and  love  for  the  aristocra 
cy,  increased,  perhaps,  by  his  pecuniary  interest,  (and  if 
so,  he  was  mean  as  well  as  unprincipled,)  induced  in  his 
mind  conclusions  which  rendered  him  (Mr.  Jefferson  here 
spoke  with  some  warmth)  a  traitor  to  human  nature." 

I  remained  in  the  neighborhood  of  Monticello  nearly  a 
week,  and  spent  a  portion  of  every  day  in  Mr.  Jefferson's 
library,  at  his  pressing  invitation.  On  Tuesday  before  I  left 
these  quiet  philosophical  shades,  I  received  a  card  from 
Mr.  Jefferson,  inviting  me  to  dine  with  him  in  company 
with  a  few  friends  the  next  day  at  four  o'clock.  I  went 
to  his  house  and  found  there  Chief-Justice  Marshall,  Mr. 
Wirt,  Mr.  Samuel  Dexter  of  Boston,  and  Dr.  Samuel 
L.  Mitchell  of  New  York.  The  Chief-Justice  had  come 
into  the  neighborhood  on  some  business  pertaining  to  the 
University,  Mr.  Win  was  on  his  annual  visit  to  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  and  Mr.  Dexter  and  Dr.  Mitchell  being  on  a  tour 
to  South  Carolina,  so  arranged  their  journey  as  on  their 
way  to  call  on  the  old  sage  at  Monticello.  I  was  an 
nounced  as  a  young  gentleman  from  North  Carolina, — 
introduced  by  Mr.  Peridleton,  who  was  well  known  to 
most  of  the  persons  present. 


DINNER    PARTY.  67 

It  will  be  recollected  that  in  the  year  1798,  Judge  Mar 
shall  was  a  Virginia  Federalist,  that  he  was  a  favorite  of 
the  then  President,  Mr.  John  Adams,  who  appointed  him 
Ambassador  to  France,  Secretary  of  State,  and  afterwards 
Chief-Justice  of  the  United  States.  It  is  only  necessary 
to  remark,  that  before  and  during  .the  presidency  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  in  consequence  of  political  differences,  a  cold 
ness  had  existed  between  him  and  the  Chief- Justice ;  and 
I  could  perceive  for  a  time  some  restraint  in  the  deport 
ment  of  the  latter  when  addressing  the  former.  Mr.  Dex 
ter  was,  during  the  presidency  of  the  elder  Adams,  an 
ardent  Federalist  arid  Secretary  of  the  War  Department. 
After  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  in  1800,  he  retired 
from  the  field  of  politics,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  prac 
tice  of  law,  and  at  the  time  I  first  saw  him,  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most,  if  not  the  most  eloquent  and  eminent 
lawyer  in  New  England.  During  the  war  which  had 
just  closed,  Mr.  Dexter,  without  abandoning  any  of  the 
political  doctrines  which  he  held  when  in  an  executive 
department  under  Mr.  Adams,  differed  from  his  party 
generally  ;  for  he  thought  it  the  duty  of  every  American 
citizen  to  support  with  his  influence  and  money  the  gov 
ernment  in  the  prosecution"  of  the  war,  while  the  great 
body  of  New  England  Federalists  carried  their  opposition 
to  the  administration  of  the  general  government  so  far, 
that  they  discouraged  enlistments  in  the  American  army, 
and  refused  to  loan  a  dollar  of  their  money  to  aid  in  car 
rying  on  the  war  on  the  credit  of  the  government.  Dr. 
Mitchell  was  a  very  learned  man,  passionately  devoted  to 
the  natural  sciences.  He  had  been  a  Democratic  sen 
ator  of  the  United  States  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  presi 
dent.  He  was  an  admirer,  I  was  going  to  say  an  adorer, 
of  the  late  president,  because  he  was  a  republican,  and 


68  CONVERSATION. 

more  especially  because  he  was  a  philosopher.  I  can,  in 
my  mind's  eye,  see  the  good  old  Doctor  now  ;  his  large 
corpulent  form,  his  fine  good-natured,  honest  face,  with 
his  well-powdered  hair  and  neat  little  queue  nicely  folded 
in  a  riband  suspended  on  the  collar  of  his  coat,  seem  full 
in  my  view.  Of  Mr.  Wirt,  I  need  not  speak  otherwise 
than  to  say  he  was  one  of  the  most  amiable  of  men.  His 
talents  are  universally  known  and  acknowledged,  though, 
to  say  truth,  he  was  a  little  too  fanciful,  or  rather  the  bril 
liancy  of  his  imagination  was  such  that  it  sometimes  daz 
zled  the  eyes  of  his  understanding.  There  was  also  there 
one  other  remarkable  man  from  the  North.  It  was  Elder 
John  Leland,  who  sent  Mr.  Jefferson  the  great  cheese. 
He  was  a  Baptist  minister,  who  then  lived  in  the  western 
part  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  very  zealous,  both  as  a 
politician  and  sectarian,  and  was  a  man  of  some  wit.  He 
was  the  author  of  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Jack  Nips  on 
Infant  Baptism,"  which  had,  at  the  time  it  was  published, 
an  extensive  circulation  in  the  eastern  states,  where  ques 
tions  of  that  nature  were  formerly  mooted  with  much  zeal 
and  interest.  Mr.  Leland  would  have  made  an  excellent 
chaplain  in  Oliver  Cromwell's  army.  All  these  talented 
men,  then  so  gay  and  social,  have  now  gone  down  to  the 
grave,  while  I  yet  wander  about  the  earth. 

At  dinner  Mr.  Jefferson  introduced  the  conversation  by 
inquiring  of  Mr.  Dexter  how  the  appointment  of  Judge 
Story  to  the  Bench  of  the  United  States  was  received  by 
the  people  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Dexter  said,  "  extremely 
well."  Dr.  Mitchell  remarked,  that  when  Judge  Story's 
name  was  before  the  senate,  it  was  alleged  that,  although 
he  was  a  man  of  genius,  he  was  not  a  sound  lawyer.  "  It 
was  said  so  elsewhere,"  replied  Mr.  Dexter, "  arid  ho  is  truly 
a  man  of  genius,  but,  in  my  judgment,  he  is  also  an  able 


LAW    AND    LAWYERS.  69 

lawyer.  The  fact  of  his  being  known  as  a  fine  writer,  has 
heretofore  prevented  his  being  appreciated  in  his  pro 
fession  as  he  deserves.  A  man  whom  the  public  allow  to 
be  a  great  lawyer,  they  will  not  permit  to  be  any  thing  else. 
Had  not  Judge  Story  been  known  to  the  public  as  a  poet, 
he  would,  before  this  time,  have  occupied  a  higher  rank  as 
a  learned  jurist."*  "  That  is  very  odd,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson, 
"but,  nevertheless,  I  believe  it  is  true.  If,  however,  in  this 
the  public  err,  the  error,  in  my  judgment,  in  a  great  meas 
ure,  is  chargeable  on  the  lawyers  themselves.  They  have, 
by  their  technicalities,  enveloped  the  science  of  law  in 
mystery.  Justice  between  man  and  man  is  plain  and  ob 
vious  to  right-minded  men  possessed  of  common  sense  ; 
but,  according  to  men  of  the  law,  it  is  to  be  measured  out 
in  pursuance  of  technical  rules  which  they  have  created. 
It  is  not  sufficient  that  the  judgment  of  the  judge  be  sus 
tained  by  those  reasons  which  strike  every  man  as  being 
founded  upon  good  sense.  Sir  Edward  Cooper  says  it 
must  be  learned  reason.  In  other  words,  justice  must  be 
manufactured  by  the  lawyer,  secundum  artem,  as  the  me 
chanic  constructs  a  watch.  When,  therefore,  the  public 
become  suspicious  that  the  lawyer  is  pursuing  some  other 
trade  besides  that  of  the  manufacturing  of  justice,  it  is 
natural  they  should  turn  their  attention  to  some  other  person 
of  the  same  trade  who  devotes  himself  entirely  to  his  busi 
ness." 

"  Really,  Mr.  President,"  said  Mr.  Dexter,  "  I  think 
if  you  will  allow  your  mind  to  revert  back  prior  to  the 
American  Revolution,  when  you  were  in  the  practice  of 
law,  you  will  perceive  that  many  of  those  rules  you  call 

*  The  reader  will  remember  that  this  conversation  took  place  in  1815, 
before  Judge  Story  was  much  known  as  a  judge,  and  before  the  publica 
tion  of  any  of  his  works  on  civil  jurisprudence 


70  CONVERSATION. 

technical,  and  of  which  you  now  disapprove,  were  essen 
tial  guards  to  the  innocent,  and  very  important  to  the  cor 
rect  administration  of  justice." 

"I  admit,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  that  general  princi 
ples,  or  rules  if  you  please,  ought  to  be  well  fixed  in 
the  mind  of  the  lawyer ;  and  I  insist  that  in  the  pro 
per  application  of  those  rules  to  particular  cases  con 
sists  the  skill  and  merit  of  the  lawyer.  It  is  the  mul 
tiplication  of  arbitrary  rules,  and  the  rigid  adherence 
to  them,  of  which  I  complain.  A  large  portion  of  forensic 
debates  is  about  names,  instead  of  principles,  or  facts. 
The  sloop  Polly,  in  descending  the  Potomac,  runs  upon 
the  sloop  Hope,  and  in  a  moment  ruins  her  owner.  He 
commences  an  action  of  trespass  against  the  owner  of  the 
sloop  Polly,  and  because  he  has  called  his  action  trespass, 
instead  of  trespass  on  the  case,  is  cast  in  the  suit,  and 
amerced  in  a  heavy  bill  of  costs.  This,  to  my  mind,  is 
manifestly  wrong,  and  yet  thousands  of  cases  of  this  kind 
occur,  and  discussions  respecting  them  occupy  a  large 
portion  of  the  time  of  our  courts  and  the  labor  of  the  law 
yer.  More  general  science,  and  more  common  sense,  should 
be  mingled  with  the  technical  learning  of  the  legal  practi 
tioner.  While  I  administered  the  United  States  govern 
ment  I  endeavored  to  reduce  this  doctrine  to  practice  by 
the  manner  in  which  I  selected  the  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan.  That  court  was  com 
posed  of  three  judges.  I  selected  for  one  of  them  Mr. 
Woodworth  of  Virginia.  He  had  spent  his  life  in  the 
study  of  natural  and  moral  philosophy,  and  really  was  a 
man  of  great  general  knowledge."  "  So  he  was,"  inter 
rupted  Dr.  Mitchell,  "  I  knew  him  well.  I  have  read 
his  theory  of  the  tides  of  the  Lakes  with  great  pleasure." 
"  Though,"  continued  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  I  confess  Judge 


STATE    RIGHTS.  71 

Wood  worth  was  a  little  visionary.  Another  of  these 
judges  I  selected  from  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  dry 
technical  lawyer,  and  would  not  believe  two  and  two  made 
four,  unless  you  could  prove  it  by  an  adjudged  case.  The 
third  was  a  large  strong-handed  and  strong-minded  Ver 
mont  farmer,  who  had,  perhaps,  never  seen  a  law-book, 
except  that  which  contained  the  statutes  of  Vermont,  and 
who  heartily  despised  all  legal  learning.  Thus  I  formed  a 
court  consisting  of  a  philosopher,  a  lawyer,  and  a  clear 
headed  common  sense  Vermont  farmer." 

Chief-Justice  Marshall,  who  had  sat  profoundly  silent, 
though  I  could  now  and  then  perceive  something  like  a 
phosphoric  coruscation  in  his  keen  black  eye,  now  laid 
down  his  knife  and  fork,  and  said,  with  a  sarcastic  smile, 
"  And  how  did  your  plan  operate,  Mr.  President ;  did  your 
machine  go  well  ?"  "  Upon  my  word,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson, 
with  great  frankness,  "  it  would  not  go  at  all."  "  It  must 
have  been,"  said  Elder  Leland,  "  like  a  cart  with  three 
horses  hitched  to  it,  one  at  each  end  and  one  at  the  side, 
all  pulling  in  different  directions."  At  this  we  all  laughed 
heartily.  Even  the  solemn  face  of  the  Chief-Justice  was 
moved  to  risibility. 

After  this  a  conversation  ensued  on  the  conduct  of  the 
New  England  States  during  the  war  then  lately  ended. 
No  one  justified  their  course.  Mr.  Dexter  regretted  that 
the  constitution  had  not  vested  the  national  government 
with  greater  powers  in  such  cases.  "  No,"  said  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  "I  cannot  join  you  in  that ;  instead  of  adding,  I  would 
the  general  government  some  of  the  powers  it 
possesses  and  restore  them  to  the  states.  I  would 
to  public  opinion  the  correction  of  the  errors  into 
ne  or  more  states  may  temporarily  fall.  Th. 
/eminent  is  now  too  strong.  The  independence  of 


72  CONVERSATION. 

the  states  may  be  crushed  by  it.  This  is  a  matter  upon 
which  my  opinion  has  long  been  formed,  and  I  do  not  be 
lieve  I  shall  ever  alter  it."  "  I  grant  you,"  said  the  Chief- 
Justice,  "  that  the  general  government  in  time  of  peace  is 
strong — by  means  of  its  patronage,  in  this  office-loving 
country,  perhaps  it  is  too  strong.  For  here,  as  all  men 
profess  to  love  the  people,  all  men  are  anxious  to  serve 
them — provided  always,  they  can  be  well  paid  ;  but  in 
time  of  war  the  case  is  far  different.  In  a  free  govern 
ment  there  always  will  be  parties  holding  different  and 
adverse  opinions.  A  majority  of  the  people  of  Massachu 
setts  honestly,  as  I  believe,  for  I  agreed  with  them, 
thought  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain  was  unwise  if 
not  unjust,  and  wished  to  terminate  it.  A  majority  of  the 
nation,  equally  honest,  believed  the  war  necessary  and 
proper.  Massachusetts,  with  the  other  New  England 
states,  exerted,  as  she  had  a  right  to  do,  all  her  constitu 
tional  power  to  place  the  national  government  in  a  con 
dition  which  would  induce  it  to  make  peace.  The  states 
severally  possess  all  the  attributes  of  independent  govern 
ments.  Each  state  has  a  legislative  and  executive  depart 
ment  ;  it  has  a  treasury — a  judiciary — by  means  of  its 
chartered  banks  it  has,  in  effect,  the  power  of  coining  mo 
ney — and  it  has  in  its  militia,  whose  officers  it  appoints, 
an  organized  army.  The  New  England  states  therefore 
had  all  the  means,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  of  legal 
izing  rebellion  against  the  general  government.  They 
refused,  as  they  had  constitutionally  the  right  to  do,  to 
loan  their  money  to  the  nation,  and  in  consequence  of  it 
the  money  of  the  nation,  in  the  shape  of  a  balance  of  ac 
counts,  flowed  into  their  coffers  and  was  there  hoarded. 
When  the  news  of  peace  arrived  the  credit  of  the  general 
government  was  prostrate,  its  regular  army  was  reduced 


SLAVERY.  73 

to  less  than  eight  thousand  effective  men,  and  it  could  not 
recruit  that  army  because  the  national  treasury  was  bank 
rupt,  and  not  a  dollar  in  coin  could  be  furnished  to  pay  to 
the  soldier.  Hence  it  is  most  evident,  from  experience  as 
well  as  from  reasoning,  that  the  more  power  you  confer 
on  the  individual  states  the  more  you  weaken  the  defen 
sive  power  of  the  nation,  and  the  more  you  endanger  a 
division  of  the  Union."  Before  Mr.  Jefferson  had  time 
to  begin  a  reply,  Mr.  Dexter  said  "  he  did  not  apprehend 
any  danger  of  a  separation  of  the  states  from  any  differ 
ence  of  opinion  as  to  the  ordinary  measures  of  govern 
ment.  The  people  of  every  state  are  strongly  attached 
to  the  Union,  and  to  prevent  a  division,  both  parties  will 
always  yield  a  little.  Public  opinion  will  force  leading 
politicians  into  a  compromise  But  there  is  one  evil,"  con 
tinued  Mr.  Dexter,  "  from  which  I  apprehend  that  dreadful 
result — I  mean  slavery  in  the  southern  states  and  the 
slave  representation." 

"  Oh,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  dismiss  your  fears  on  that 
subject,  slavery  will  soon  be  abolished  in  all  the  states." 

"  Never,"  said  Judge  Marshall,"  never  by  the  voluntary 
consent  of  the  slaveholding  states." 

"  I  regret,"  replied  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  that  so  attentive  an 
observer  as  you  are,  Chief-Justice,  should  entertain  such 
an  opinion.  I  well  know  that  at  the  time  American  Inde 
pendence  was  declared,  no  member,  either  north  or  south, 
expected  that  slavery  would  continue  as  long  as  it  has." 

"  I  can  well  believe  that,"  said  Mr.  Wirt,  "  for  they 
must  have  felt  that  the  continuance  of  slavery  was  directly 
adverse  to  their  declaration,  that  all  men  are  born  free 
and  equal,  &c." 

"  But,"  said  Dr.  Mitchell,  "  I  very  much  doubt  whether, 
according  to  the  laws  of  nature,  the  Africans  are  not 


74  CONVERSATION. 

formed  to  be  subject  to  the  Caucasian  race.  From  my 
own  observations  I  am  satisfied  that  nature  has  formed  an 
essential  difference  between  the  two  races,  and  much  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  negro  race." 

Here  the  learned  Doctor  went  into  an  elaborate  descrip 
tion  of  the  brain,  which,  he  said,  was  the  source  of  intel 
lectual  power.  He  spoke  of  the  connection  of  the  brain 
with  the  nervous  system,  and  of  his  discoveries  in  the 
dissection  of  the  heads  of  several  negroes  which  he  had 
superintended,  and  pointed  out  the  difference  in  the  de 
velopment,  size,  and  quality,  between  the  brain  of  the  ne 
gro  and  the  white  man,  and  insisted  that  the  brain  of  the 
former  was  not  so  capable  of  producing  intellectual  power 
as  that -of  the  latter, — so,  said  the  Doctor,  if  your  position, 
that  all  men  are  born  equal  is  politically  true,  it  is  physi 
cally  false. 

"  As  regards  personal  rights,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson,  "it 
seems  to  me  most  palpably  absurd,  that  the  individual 
rights  of  volition  and  locomotion  should  depend  on  the  de 
gree  of  intellectual  power  possessed  by  the  individual.  I 
should  hardly  be  willing  to  subscribe  to  the  doctrine,  that 
because  the  Chief-Justice  has  a  stronger  mind  or  a  more 
capacious  and  better  formed  brain  than  I,  that  therefore 
he  has  a  right  to  make  me  his  slave.  But,  Doctor,"  con 
tinued  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  may  not  the  diet  anrd  exercise, 
bodily  and  mentally  of  a  child,  produce  some  effect  on  the 
size,  shape,  and  quality  of  the  brain  ?  I  will  suppose  that 
my  friend,  Mr.  Dexter,  has  two  sons,  the  eldest  of  whom  shall 
be  six  years  old,  as  nearly  alike  as  brothers  of  the  age  of  five 
and  six  years  generally  are.  Suppose  the  younger  to  be 
transferred  to  a  rice  plantation  in  South  Carolina,  placed 
in  a  negro  cabin,  and  brought  up  with  the  field-slaves,  asso 
ciating  only  with  them  ;  and  that  the  elder  should  be  con- 


CONVERSATION.  75 

tmued  in  Mr.  Dexter's  family,  associate  with  none  but 
highly  intellectual  people  ;  then  let  his  education  be  com 
pleted  by  four  years'  residence  and  tuition  at  Cambridge. 
Look  at  the  heads  and  faces  of  these  boys  when  they 
shall  respectively  arrive  at  mature  age,  and  then  let  a 
phrenologist,  Doctor  Spurzheim,  if  you  please,  pronounce 
upon  the  native  intellectual  power  of  each.  Do  we  not 
all  know  that  the  difference  would  be  immense  ?  But  to 
do  justice  to  the  negro  race,  and  in  order  to  carry  out  the 
experiment  fairly,  we  ought  to  suppose  that  the  younger 
has  married  a  Caucasian  slave  ;  and  let  Dr.  Mitchell  dis 
sect  and  compare  the  heads  of  the  great-grandchildren  of 
that  issue  with  the  great-grandchildren  of  the  issue  of  the 
elder  brother.  I  ask,  what  would  be  the  result  of  that 
experiment  ?" 

"  I  do  not  mean  to  advocate  slavery,"  said  the  Chief- 
Justice — "  I  wish,  from  my  soul  I  wish  it  was  abolished ; 
but  when  we  calculate  on  political  results,  we  must  look 
at  society  as  it  is.  I  do  not  found  my  opinion  on  the  per 
petuity  of  slavery  upon  any  natural  inferiority  of  the  ne 
gro.  You  are  all  well  aware,  that  nearly  every  man  at 
the  South,  who  possesses  any  influence  at  our  elections, 
is  a  slaveholder — and  hence  our  legislators  will  be  slave 
holders,  or  under  their  influence.  Probably  nine-tenths 
of  them  will  be  actual  slaveholders.  You  have  theh  a 
pecuniary  influence  to  contend  with,  which  you  cannot 
overcome  except  by  force.  Slaves  are  by  law  property  ; 
and  do  you  expect  that  a  man  will,  voluntarily  and  without 
consideration,  surrender  his  property  to  individuals,  or  to 
the  public  ?  The  British  Parliament  may,  and  probably 
will,  abolish  slavery  in  the  West  India  islands  ;  but  sup 
pose  nine-tenths  of  that  parliament  should  be  composed 
of  the  planters  of  Jamaica — when,  then,  would  slavery  be 


76  CAPACITY  OF  THE  AFRICANS. 

abolished  in  Jamaica  ?  Mr.  Dexter  will,  I  presume,  ad 
mit  that  banking  is  a  monopoly,  and  that  monopolies 
ought  not  to  be  tolerated  ;  but  will  Mr.  Dexter  give  up 
and  sacrifice  his  bank-stock  ?  I  tell  you,  sir,  you  may  as 
well  expect  that  the  farmers  of  Virginia  will  burn  up  their 
title  deeds  and  give  away  their  farms,  as  to  give  away  their 
negroes.  You,  Mr.  President,  ascribe  too  much  virtue  and 
benevolence  to  our  people,  if  you  suppose  the  disposition 
to  emancipate  the  negroes  is  increasing.  You  must  recol 
lect,  that  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  Chan 
cellor  Wy  the  and  yourself  were  deterred  from  introducing  a 
bill  into  the  legislature  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  be 
cause  you  became  satisfied  that  the  time  had  not  then 
come  when  the  public  mind  was  prepared  for  the  adoption 
of  that  measure,  but  you  then  anticipated  that  it  would  soon 
be  reviewed  more  favorably  by  the  community  ;  your  ex 
pectations,  however,  were  not  realized.  And  at  this  mo 
ment  I  venture  to  affirm,  that  a  bill  for  negro  emancipation 
would  meet  with  a  prompt  and  indignant  condemnation. 
I  repeat,  that  interest,  pecuniary  interest,  will  forever  pre 
vent  the  emancipation  of  the  slave  at  the  south.  I  do  not 
say  the  slave  ought  not  to  be  emancipated — I  say  he  will 
not  be  emancipated." 

"And  I,"  said  Mr.  Leland,  "say  he  ought  not  to  be  eman 
cipated.  I  do  not  predicate  my  opinion  on  the  anatomical 
discoveries  of  Dr.  Mitchell,  but  I  think  the  negroes  are 
the  children  of  Ham,  and  according  to  the  Bible,  they  are 
doomed  to  be  the  servant  of  servants.  Besides,  I  am  con 
vinced,  from  my  own  observation,  and  I  have  had  a  pretty 
good  opportunity  to  observe,  for  I  was  two  years  a  mis 
sionary  in  the  slaveholding  states  for  a  Massachusetts 
Baptist  association,  that  the  blacks  are  altogether  inferior 
to  the  whites.  They  are,  I  assure  you,  low-minded,  and 


CONVERSATION.  77 

beastly  in  their  propensities.  They  desire  nothing  but  to 
eat,  drink,  fiddle,  laugh,  sleep,  and  dance.  For  my  part, 
I  regard  them  as  a  mongrel  species,  half  man  and  half 
ape." 

While  Mr.  Leland  was  making  these  remarks,  I  could 
not  avoid  the  reflection,  that  in  this  instance,  as  in  many 
others,  the  visionary  though  learned  philosopher,  and  the 
fanatical  zealot,  arrived,  by  an  entirely  different  process 
of  mental  action,  to  the  same  conclusion.  Extremes  fre 
quently  approach  near  each  other.  I  was  roused  from  the 
revery  occasioned  by  this  train  of  thought,  by  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  saying  to  Mr.  Leland, — "  I  am  happy  to  have  it  in 
my  power  at  this  moment  to  prove  to  you  and  Dr. 
Mitchell,  by  ocular  demonstration,  that  the  experience  of 
one  of  you  and  the  theory  of  the  other,  has  led  you  to  er 
roneous  conclusions.  Look  at  the  young  gentleman  who 
sits  opposite  to  you.  In  the  mean  time,"  continued  he, 
"  Mr.  Mertourn,  allow  me  the  pleasure  of  drinking  a 
glass  of  wine  with  you.  Mr.  Melbourn,"  added  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  "  was  born  a  slave,  and  is  of  African  descent, 
though  he  has  considerable  Saxon  blood  in  his  veins.  He 
was  enfranchised  by  a  pious  and  benevolent  lady,  and  is 
now  a  man  of  wealth.  He  has  by  his  own  efforts  and 
industry  cultivated  and  well-improved  his  mind — a  mind 
which  I  religiously  believe,  your  missionary  observations, 
friend  Leland,  and  Doctor  Mitchell's  dissections  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding,  is  of  the  first  order  of  human 
intellects." 

I  was  much  embarrassed  at  this  compliment  from  so 
great  a  man  as  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  I  presume  appeared 
quite  awkward.  The  whole  company  gazed  on  me  with 
astonishment.  The  piercing  eye  of  the  Chief-Justice  in 
particular,  I  perceived  was  fixed  most  intensely  upon  me. 


78  CITY    OF    WASHINGTON    IN    1815. 

Mr.  Jefferson  then  related  some  part  of  my  history,  (for  I 
had  previously  told  him  my  story,)  and  he  animadverted 
with  great  severity  on  the  treatment  I  had  received  at 
Natchez,  and  upon  the  laws  which  legalized  that  treat 
ment.  While  he  was  talking,  I  perceived  Mr.  Wirt's 
countenance  several  times  redden  with  apparent  indigna 
tion.  It  was  now  late,  and  I  took  my  leave  ;  but  as  I 
was  retiring,  Mr.  Wirt  followed  me  into  the  hall,  and,  t 
taking  me  by  the  hand,  expressed  a  desire  to  continue  his  ' 
acquaintance  with  me.  "  I  am  mortified  and  ashamed," 
said  he,  "  that  this  glorious  country  sustains  such  laws  as 
those  under  which  you  have  suffered." 

The  next  morning  I  proceeded  on  my  journey  north 
ward. 


CHAPTER  II. 

City  of  Washington  in  1815 — Contrast  between  Maryland  and  Pennsyl 
vania — City  Hotel  in  New  York — Willard,  the  Bar-keeper — Prejudice 
against  Colored  People  in  the  Free  States — The  Author,  after  visiting 
New  York  and  Albany,  returns  to  Washington. 

ON  my  way  north  I  passed  through  the  city  of  Wash 
ington,  which,  though  called  a  city,  was  then  a  mere 
cluster  of  villages.  Blocks  of  some  eight  or  ten  houses, 
with  large  spaces  between  each  block,  were  scattered 
over  a  territory  of  three  or  four  miles  in  extent,  and  a 
mile  or  two  in  breadth.  The  streets  were  muddy,  and 
even  the  main  street,  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  was  not 
paved.  The  president's  house  and  the  two  wings  of  the 
capitol  (the  centre  building  had  not  then  been  constructed) 
had  lately  been  blown  up  by  the  British  ;  a  circumstance 


MARYLAND  AND  PENNSYLVANIA.          79 

which  added  greatly  to  the  appearance  of  desolation  and 
ruin  which  the  scene  presented  to  the  eye  of  the 
traveller. 

From  Washington  I  went  to  the  beautiful  and  busy  city 
of  Baltimore,  and  from  thence,  for  the  sake  of  enjoying  a 
belter  view  of  the  country,  I  travelled  by  stage-coach 
through  Lancaster  to  Philadelphia.  When  I  arrived  at 
the  line  of  Pennsylvania,  I  needed  no  guide  to  inform  me 
tvhere  that  line  was.  Did  my  reader  ever  see  a  native 
forest,  part  of  which  had  been  scathed  by  what  is  called 
a  fire  in  the  woods,  and  the  other  part  left  untouched  by 
the  destructive  element  ?  If  so,  he  may  form  some  idea 
of  the  difference  between  the  appearance  of  a  country 
cultivated  by  slave,  and  one  cultivated  by  free  labor.  The 
land  of  Penn  was  divided  into  small  farms,  well  fenced, 
generally  with  stone  wall.  Qn  each  farm  was  to  be  seen 
a  neat  and  comfortable  farmhouse,  and  also  a  barn  built 
of  stone,  fit  for  a  dwelling-house.  The  eye  was  charmed 
with  the  view  of  orchards  bending  with  various  kinds  of 
fruit,  and  fields  richly  loaded  with  grain.  On  the  other 
hand,  and  immediately  adjoining,  were  extensive  plains, 
uncultivated,  except  with  now  and  then  a  large  cornfield. 
You  might  also  perceive  a  few  old  mansion-houses  at  the 
distance  of  a  mile  or  two  from  each  other.  These  houses 
were  some  of  them  built  of  logs,  which  appeared  to  have 
been  placed  in  the  building  in  the  time  of  Lord  Balti 
more.  Scarcely  a  barn  could  be  seen,  and  those  which 
could  be  discovered,  were  in  a  most  ruinous  condition. 
You  might  also  descry  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  mansion- 
house  two  or  three  negro-huts,  with  a  few  half-naked  ne 
groes,  male  and  female,  old  and  young,  straggling  in  the 
fields,  or  sauntering  about  their  huts.  Scarcely  any  thing 
deserving  the  name  of  fences  was  to  be  seen,  but  now 


80  NEW  YORK CITY    HOTEL. 

and  then  might  be  observed,  ditches  in  lieu  of  fences. 
Could  the  late  Lord  Baltimore,  thought  I,  now  visit  his 
favorite  colony,  and  witness  these  blighting  effects  of 
slavery,  how  would  his  benevolent  heart  sink  within 
him  !* 

I  spent  about  four  weeks  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
and  from  thence  went  to  New  York  ;  and  there  and  at  Al 
bany,  which  is  situated  at  the  head  of  tide-water  on  the 
Hudson  river — the  finest  navigable  river  of  its  length  in. 
the  world — I  remained  the  whole  of  the  summer,  and  un 
til  late  in  the  fall. 

At  New  York  I  took  up  my  residence  at  the  City  Hotel, 
at  that  time  kept  by  Mr.  Gibson,  then  and  now  one  of  the 
best,  if  not  the  best  hotel  in  America.  I  say  if  not  the 
best,  because,  although  there  are  other  public  houses  in 
the  United  States,  more  magnificently  furnished,  and 
whose  tables  are  more  sumptuously  supplied,  yet  the  or 
dinaries  of  the  City  Hotel  can  hardly  be  exceeded  for 
richness  and  variety  of  food  and  excellent  wines.  But 
the  particular  reason  of  my  preference  of  the  City  Hotel, 
is  that,  while  in  almost  every  other  public  boarding-house 
in  America,  the  business  and  means  of  living  of  the  lodger 
are  a  subject  of  inquiry,  and  rigid  and  careful  scrutiny,  all 
his  movements  are  watched,  and  he  is  constantly  the  sub 
ject  of  remark  by  the  curious  and  the  idle, — at  the  City 
Hotel,  a  boarder  may  mingle  in  society  or  live  by  him 
self,  he  may  talk  or  he  may  be  silent  for  months  together, 
he  may  drink  wine  or  drink  water — in  short,  he  may  be  as 


*  This  description  seems  more  applicable  to  some  parts  of  Eastern 
Virginia  than  to  Maryland.  It  appears  to  me  rather  a  fancy  sketch  of  a 
slaveholding  country,  than  a  real  and  correct  description  of  the  present 
condition  of  the  farming  interest  in  Maryland. — Editor. 


PREJUDICE  AGAINST  COLOR.  81 

it  were  in  the  world  or  out  of  it,  without  being  called  to 
an  account  by  any  one  for  his  conduct,  or  mode  of  living. 
I  understand  that  Mr.  Gibson  has  long  since  left  the  house, 
and  that  it  is  now  kept  by  Mr.-  Jennings,  a  very  worthy 
man,  who  was  an  inmate  of  it  when  I  was  there  ;  and  that 
Mr.  Willard,  the  accommodating  bar-keeper,  who  knows 
and  remembers  the  name  of  every  man  who  has  ever 
stepped  into  that  great  thoroughfare,  as  well  as  all  his 
uncles,  and  aunts,  and  cousins,  is  still  there.  Night  and 
day  he  is  standing  in  that  bar.  I  seem  now,  at  the  dis 
tance  of  three  thousand  miles,  to  see  his  smiling  face  and 
hear  him  call  the  waiters,  and  give  them  orders,  without 
for  one  moment  suspending  his  conversation  with  a  guest 
who  is  standing  at  the  bar  and  making  inquiries  of  him. 

One  thing  struck  me  with  surprise  upon  my  arrival  in 
the  free  states.  I  have  remarked  in  the  first  part  of  my 
history,  that  my  skin  was  white  as  that  of  most  men,  arid 
whiter  than  that  of  the  Spaniard,  and  that  I  had  blue  eyes; 
nevertheless,  that  my  hair  was  curly,  and  even  woolly — and 
this  circumstance,  together  with  some  features  of  my 
face,  clearly  indicated  that  I  was  allied  to  the  negro-race. 
I  never  concealed  my  consanguinity  with  that  race  ;  on 
the  contrary,  wherever  I  went  I  was  careful  to  cause  it  to 
be  known,  for  I  did  not  wish  to  court  the  society  of  men 
under  false  colors.  When  I  arrived  in  Philadelphia  I  soon 
found  that  my  African  blood  was  considered  a  sufficient 
objection  to  my  being  received  as  an  equal  among  well- 
bred  people  ;  and  without  perfect  equality  I  myself  would 
not  permit  any  social  intercourse.  This,  instead  of  being 
disagreeable,  was  regarded  by  me  as  a  favorable  circum 
stance  ;  for  the  melancholy  occasioned  by  my  recent  do 
mestic  afflictions  rendered  me  disinclined  to  mingle  in 
society,  and  my  isolated  position  enabled  me  to  be  a  mere 


82  PREJUDICE  AGAINST  COLOR. 

spectator,  "  a  looker-on  in  Venice,"  without  being  under 
any  obligations  to  communicate  with  others.  Hence, 
however,  I  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  that  the  prejudice 
against  color  is  much  greater  in  the  free  than  in  the  slave- 
holding  states.  This  probably  arises  from  the  fact,  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  free  have  less  intercourse  with  the 
blacks  than  those  of  the  slave  states.  This  hypothesis  is 
greatly  strengthened  by  the  fact,  that  in  the  Pilgrim  land 
of  New  England,  where  the  blacks  are  much  less  numer 
ous  than  in  Pennsylvania  or  New  York,  the  prejudice 
founded  upon  color,  as  I  shall  hereafter  show,  is  so  great, 
as  absolutely  to  amount  to  what  may  be  denominated  a 
coloi-phobia. 

Of  course  I  mingled  in  society  very  little  either  in  Phil 
adelphia  or  in  New  York.  There  were,  nevertheless,  so 
many  southern  gentlemen  and  foreigners  at  the  City  Ho 
tel,  that  as  I  was  known  to  be  perfectly  independent  in 
my  pecuniary  concerns,  I  had  social  intercourse  enough 
whenever  I  desired  it,  though  I  seldom  visited,  or  received 
visits,  from  the  citizens  of  New  York.  I  did  indeed  call 
on  Dr.  Mitchell,  who  treated  me  with  great  kindness,  and 
urged  me  to  call  upon  him  often  ;  but  I  perceived  that 
the  Doctor  introduced  me  to  his  friends  rather  as  a  philo 
sophical  curiosity,  as  he  would  show  an  Orang-outang, 
than  as  a  gentleman  who  was  entitled  to  associate  on 
equal  terms  with  the  well-bred  portion  of  society,  and 
therefore  I  seldom  visited  him. 

In  the  latter  part  of  November  I  returned  to  the  city  of 
Washington,  and  took  rooms  at  a  hotel  in  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  near  the  president's  house.  The  hotel  was  kept 
by  a  man,  who,  although  a  very  clever  landlord,  was 
known  by  the  almost  unpronounceable  name  of  Hierony- 
mus. 


SESSION    OF    CONGRESSj    DEC.    1815.  83 


CHAPTER  III. 

Description  of  Mr.  Madison,  Henry  Clay,  William  Lowndes,  John  C 
Calhoun,  Daniel  Webster,  John  Randolph,  Richard  M.  Johnson — Re 
marks  on  the  Candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1816 — James  Monroe, 
William  H.  Crawford,  Gov.  Tompkius,  Peter  B.  Porter,  Erastus 
Root. 

ONE  reason  for  visiting  Washington  at  that  particular 
time  was  that.  Congress  was  about  to  assemble,  and  the 
meeting  of  Congress  I  believed  would  bring  together 
most  of  the  distinguished  men  of  the  nation,  and  my 
curiosity  to  see  and  hear  them  was  very  much  excited. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  this  Congress  convened  at  a 
very  interesting  period.  The  treaty  of  peace  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  had  been  ratified  but 
a  few  days  before  the  preceding  Congress  had,  by  the 
constitution,  become  defunct.  The  Congress  of  whose 
proceedings  I  am  about  to  speak,  met  on  the  first  Mon 
day  of  December,  1815,  and  of  course  all  the  arrange 
ments  for  a  peace  establishment  were  to  be  made  by 
that  body.  Means  were  to  be  provided  for  the  payment 
of  a  debt  of  more  than  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars, 
which  had  been  incurred  during  the  late  war,  and  com 
merce  and  the  currency,  which  were  sadly  deranged, 
were  to  be  regulated.  Another  matter  which  probably 
excited  more  interest,  certainly  more  feeling,  than  either 
of  those  great  questions,  was  the  selection  by  the  Re 
publican  party,  which  then  held  a  decided  majority  in  the 
nation,  of  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  to  succeed  Mr. 


84  MR.    MADISON. 

Madison,  whose  lust  term  was  soon  to  expire.  This 
selection  was  to  be  made  by  a  majority  of  the  Repibli- 
can  members  of  Congress  in  grand  caucus  assembled^ 

On  the  second  day  after  my  arrival  in  Washington,  I 
met  in  the  streets,  to  my  great  joy,  my  estimable  mend, 
Mr.  Pendleton.  The  very  next  day  he  took  me  to  the 
President  and  introduced  me  to  him.  Mr.  Pendleton  in 
a  few  words  informed  Mr.  Madison  who  I  was,  and  what 
were  my  situation  and  circumstances  in  life.  He  received 
me  courteously,  and  invited  me  to  call  often  upon  him, 
and  I  afterwards  saw  him  frequently. 

Mr.  Madison  was  then  a  little  more  than  sixty  years 
old.  He  was  small  in  stature,  but  the  features  and 
lines  of  his  face  indicated  deep  and  profound  thought, 
and  there  was  a  gravity  in  his  countenance,  and  solemnity 
and  dignity  in  his  deportment,  which  inspired  the  specta 
tor  not  only  with  respect,  but  with  a  kind  of  awe.  He 
seldom  smiled,  and  in  ordinary  conversation  never 
laughed.  His  style  in  conversation,  like  that  in  his 
writings,  was  a  perfect  model  of  purity  and  elegance. 
Without  appearing  to  have  studied  what  he  said,  every 
word  which  he  uttered,  even  on  the  most  common  topic, 
if  reduced  to  writing,  would  have  stood  the  test  of  the 
most  rigid  criticism.  Of  all  men  I  ever  knew  he  was 
uniformly  the  most  self-possessed,  and  had  the  most  per 
fect  control  over  his  own  passions.  He  knew  men  well. 
As  a  politician  he  was  cool  and  calculating.  He  never 
descended  to  any  intrigue,  but  he  was  so  well  versed  in 
the  ways  of  men  that  he  scarcely  ever  failed  in  defeating 
the  contrivances  and  intrigues  of  others.  He  would 
wait  with  astonishing  patience  for  the  manager  to  en 
tangle  himself  in  his  own  meshes.  The  engineer  would 
appear  to  be  blown  up  by  the  petard  which  ho  himself 


HENRY    CLAY.  85 

had  with  infinite  pains  constructed.  It  would  be  easy  to 
prove  the  truth  of  these  positions  by  biographical  sketches 
of  this  distinguished  man. 

T^re  Capitol  having,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  been 
destroyed  by  the  British  under  the  direction  of  Admiral 
Cockburn,  (an  act  of  Gothic  barbarity,  disgraceful  to  the 
perpetrators  and  all  who  countenanced  them  in  it,) 
Congress  met  in  a  row  of  buildings  on  Capitol  Hill, 
owned  by  Mr.  Carrol,  and  lately  fitted  up  so  as  to  afford 
temporary  accommodation  for  both  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives.  I  attended  in  the  galleries  on  the 
day  the  session  commenced,  and  spent  a  part  of  nearly 
every  day  afterwards  while  I  remained  in  Washington, 
which  was  until  the  next  April,  in  witnessing  the  pro 
ceedings  and  hearing  what  passed  both  in  the  Senate  and 
the  House  of  Representatives. 

It  is  the  province  of  general  history  to  give  an  ac 
count  of  the  measures  adopted  by  this  Congress.  I 
shall  therefore  content  myself  with  presenting  my  views 
of  some  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  that  body. 

HENRY  CLAY  of  Kentucky  was  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  He  is  a  self-made  man.  He  was, 
when  a  boy,  a  clerk  of  Chancellor  Wythe  of  Virginia. 
Without,  as  I  understand,  much  scholastic  education,  he 
acquired  while  there  some  smattering  of  the  science  of 
law,  but  before  he  was  of  age  left  the  office  of  the  Chan 
cellor  and  wandered  into  the  state  of  Kentucky,  then  an 
almost  unbroken  wilderness;  and  the  inhabitants  scattered 
among  those  wilds  were  mostly  poor,  uncultivated,  and 
rude  adventurers.  But  the  talents  of  Mr.  Clay,  young  as 
he  was,  soon  were  felt  and  appreciated  even  among  the 
half  wild  men  of  the  Kentucky  forests.  He  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  convention  which  formed  or  revised  the  consli- 


86  HENRY    CLAY. 

tution  of  that  state  ;  and  to  his  eternal  honor,  one  of  his 
first  public  political  acts  was  opposition  to  slavery. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  Mr.  Clay's  life,  his  sanguine  tem 
perament  and  ardent  passions  induced  him  to  yield  too 
much  to  sensual  propensities  and  the  exciting  amusements 
furnished  at  the  card-table  ;  but  as  he  advanced  in  life 
he  corrected  those  errors,  and  finally  abandoned  both  the 
one  and  the  other. 

When  I  first  saw  him  he  had  just  returned  from  Eng 
land,  where,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams 
and  Mr.  Bayard,  he  had  been  as  ambassador,  and  had 
successfully  negotiated  the  treaty  of  peace.  It  is  not  a 
little  remarkable  that  a  son  of  the  western  American  for 
est  should,  by  his  easy,  dignified,  and  gentlemanly  de 
portment,  have  made  himself  more  acceptable  to  the  most 
polished  and  highly  aristocratic  circles  in  Europe,  than 
even  Mr.  Adams,  who,  from  his  boyhood,  had  been  an 
inmate  in  the  most  distinguished  courts  of  the  old  world. 
Mr.  Clay  was,  indeed,  one  of  the  most  fascinating  men  I 
ever  saw.  Tall  and  elegant  in  his  person,  graceful  in  his 
manner,  a  countenance  beaming  with  intelligence  and  be 
nevolence,  open  and  apparently  frank  in  his  conversation, 
he  was  the  admiration  and  delight  of  every  social  circle 
in  which  he  mingled  ;  and  such  were  his  persuasive  pow 
ers,  that  it  seemed  impossible  for  any  individual  whom 
he  wished  to  bring  into  his  measures  to  resist  his  importu 
nities.  In  extemporaneous  debate,  he  was  the  most  elo 
quent  man  in  Congress.  Never  did  I  hear  a  man  who 
could  address  a  popular  assembly  so  powerfully  as  Henry 
Clay.  It  has  been  said  he  was  declamatory  and  ad 
dressed  more  the  prejudices  and  passions  than  the  under 
standing.  But  no  man  was  more  astute  in  seizing,  and 
prompt  in  exposing  the  weaker  points  of  his  adversary,  nor 


LOWNDES    AND    CALHOUN.  87 

of  presenting  more  clearly  to  the  judgment  his  own  strong 
points,  and  those  which  he  believed  must  control  the  de 
cision  of  the  question.  When  he  had,  as  he  assumed, 
convinced  your  judgment,  in  urging  his  conclusions,  then 
indeed  he  drew  upon  your  prejudices  and  roused  and  en 
listed  your  feelings  and  passions.  With  a  clear,  strong, 
and  musical  voice,  a  commanding  and  graceful  person, 
his  countenance  flushed  and  his  eye  flashing  fire,  no  au 
dience  composed  of  human  beings  could  resist  being  borne 
away  by  the  torrent  of  his  eloquence. 

Mr.  Clay  was  a  most  zealous  Republican,  and  would, 
occasionally,  pour  out  his  wrath  in  an  unsparing  manner 
upon  the  poor  Federalists,  whose  policy  then  was  to  anni 
hilate,  as  far  as  they  could,  party  distinctions,  and  who 
therefore  took  every  precaution  against  saying  or  doing 
any  thing  which  might  serve  to  call  out  the  denunciations 
of  their  opponents. 

Mr.  Clay  was  ambitious — intensely  ambitious,  and  prob 
ably  had  at  that  time  fixed  his  eye  on  the  presidency. 
Undoubtedly  he  sincerely  loved  his  country,  and  was  in  the 
main  governed  by  the  impulse  of  patriotic  emotions,  but  in 
devising  means  to  accomplish  a  given  end,  he  is  said  to 
have  been  sometimes  not  sufficiently  scrupulous.  He 
was  at  this  time  the  favorite — the  idol  of  the  South. 
Subsequently,  either  from  principle  or  policy,  or  both, 
he  supported  the  measures  of  the  northern  people — a 
tariff  and  a  bank,  which  lost  him  his  old  southern  friends, 
and  the  loss  of  their  friendship  was  followed  by  their 
most  inveterate  hostility. 

WILLIAM  LOWNDES  and  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN  were  the 
two  great  men  from  South  Carolina.  Of  the  former  I 
may  say,  in  brief,  that  he  was  a  learned  and  an  able  states 
man,  disinterested  and  patriotic  in  all  his  conduct,  and 


88  DANIEL    WEBSTER 

mild,  modest,  and  amiable  in  private  life.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  benevolent  men  that  ever  lived,  and  yet  was 
said  to  be  the  largest  slaveholder  in  the  Carolinas,  except 
General  Wade  Hampton  ;  arid  although  this  was  an  error, 
and  in  my  judgment  a  very  great  one,  in  Mr.  Lovvndes,  it 
was  an  error  of  the  head,  growing  out  of  the  circumstances 
which  attended  him  from  his  birth,  and  not  an  error  of 
the  heart. 

JOHN  C.  CALHOUN  was  younger  than  Mr.  Lowndes. 
All  the  world  now  admit  his  great  and  distinguished  tal 
ents.  Though  Mr.  Calhoun  possesses  all  the  ardor  of 
feeling  peculiar  to  southern  men  of  genius,  in  debate  he 
appears  more  like  a  northern  orator.  He  never  attempts 
to  address  your  feelings  or  your  passions.  He  has  noth 
ing  of  that  wordy  grandiloquent  eloquence  which  gener 
ally  distinguishes  southern  orators.  His  argument  is 
cool,  clear,  and  logical,  and  you  might  listen  to  him  an 
hour  in  a  day  for  twenty  days  in  succession,  and  he  would 
not  use  a  single  word  which  was  not  absolutely  necessary 
to  convey  his  meaning.  Calhoun  was  a  Republican. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER,  a  member  then  from  New  Hamp 
shire,  was  the  leader  of  the  Federal  party  in  Congress. 
Cold,  and  rather  repulsive  in  his  manners,  cautious  and 
calculating  in  debate,  he  was  always  perfectly  self-possess 
ed.  Unmoved  by  the  attacks  of  his  opponents,  he  pursued 
the  chain  of  his  argument,  demonstrating,  as  he  advanced, 
with  all  the  deliberation  of  a  mathematician  solving  a 
problem  in  Euclid. 

Mr.  Webster  is  not  an  eloquent  man.  He  has  not  that 
acute  sensibility  nor  the  brilliancy  of  imagination,  or, 
rather,  the  enthusiasm  which,  in  my  judgment,  is  indis 
pensable  for  a  popular  orator  ;  but  he  possesses  strength 
and  vigor  of  intellect  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  any  other 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  69 

man  in  America.  In  discussing  the  most  abstruse  ques 
tion,  and  in  pursuing  a  long  and  laborious  process  of  rea 
soning,  he  does  not  seem  to  be  conscious  he  is  saying 
any  thing  extraordinary.  He  appears  rather  to  be  talking 
plain  common  sense,  than  discussing  an  intricate  point  in 
controversy ;  and  when  he  arrives  at  his  conclusions,  he 
makes  so  clear  a  case  that  you  are  astonished,  not  so 
much  at  the  skill  of  the  orator,  as  that  the  same  course 
of  reasoning  had  not  occurred  to  yourself;  and  this  effect 
of  his  reasoning  I  take  to  be  conclusive  evidence  of  his 
high  intellectual  power.  But  Mr.  Webster,  when  excited, 
which  is  rarely  the  case,  is  truly  eloquent. 

I  will  give  one  instance. 

Mr.  Webster  and  the  Federalists  as  a  party  were  op 
posed  to  a  bill  reported  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  as  chairman  of 
the  Finance  Committee,  for  chartering  a  bank  of  the  Uni 
ted  States.  The  bill  as  originally  reported  would  have 
created  a  paper  and  not  a  specie-paying  bank.  This  fea 
ture  of  the  bill  was  against  the  individual  opinion  of  Mr. 
Calhoun,  but  he  reported  it  in  that  form  in  obedience  to 
the  direction  of  the  majority  of  the  committee,  who  were 
members  from  the  south  and  west,  and  from  Pennsylva 
nia.  Mr.  Webster,  when  the  bill  was  introduced,  gave 
notice  that  he  should  probably  vote  against  the  bill  in  any 
shape  it  might  be  made  to  assume ;  but  as  in  some  form 
it  might  be  passed  into  a  law,  he  should  endeavor  to  divest 
it  of  some  of  its  imperfections,  and  make  it  as  perfect  as 
he  could.  With  that  view,  he  from  time  to  time  proposed 
amendments,  all  tending  to  compel  the  bank  to  become 
and  to  be  a  specie-paying  bank.  These  amendments  were 
generally  concurred  in  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  by  the  aid  of 
the  votes  of  the  Federal  members  were  adopted ;  but  the 
adoption  of  each  of  these  amendments  lost,  from  time  to 


90  JOHN    RANDOLPH. 

time,  friends  to  the  bill  from  the  southern,  western,  and  some 
of  the  middle  states.  Mr.Webster,  therefore,  calculating  as 
he  did  with  perfect  certainty  that  on  the  final  vote  the  Fed 
eralists  in  a  body  would  vote  to  reject  the  bill,  felt  morally 
certain  he  should  succeed  in  defeating  it,  a  project  in 
which  his  whole  soul  was  engaged  ;  but,  just  before  the 
final  vote  was  to  be  taken,  Mr.  Hulbert,  an  influential 
Federalist  from  Massachusetts,  and  Mr.  Grosvenor  from 
New  York,  declared  that  they,  with  some  fifteen  other 
Federalists,  should  -vote  for  the  bill.  This  announcement 
broke  upon  Webster  like  a  clap  of  thunder  in  the  midst 
of  a  profound  calm.  He  had  lost  as  many  Federalists  as 
he  had  gained  by  all  his  labors  from  the  ranks  of  the  Re 
publicans.  He  rose,  prodigiously  excited.  His  great 
soul  heaved  within  him  in  terrible  commotion.  His  coun 
tenance  reminded  me  of  the  sudden  gathering  of  a  black 
and  tempestuous  cloud,  ready  to  burst  upon  an  alarmed 
and  frightened  multitude.  He  poured  forth  a  torrent  of 
powerful  and  eloquent  invective  on  Mr.  Hulbert,  which, 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  suspended  in  breathless  at 
tention  the  house  and  the  galleries.  So  profound  was  the 
silence,  you  might  have  heard  a  pin  drop  on  the  carpet. 
Hulbert  and  Grosvenor,  though  worthy  and  talented  men, 
in  one  moment  were  annihilated.  The  speech  never  was, 
and  indeed  never  could  be  reported. 

JOHN  RANDOLPH,  whose  history  and  character  are  too 
well  known  in  England  and  America  to  render  it  neces 
sary  for  me  to  say  any  thing  about  them,  was  also  a  member 
of  this  Congress,  as  he  had  been  of  every  Congress  since 
the  year  1798.  It  is  also  well  known  that  he  commenced 
public  life  as  a  zealous  Republican,  but  at  the  time  of 
which  I  am  writing  he  was,  and  for-  several  years  before 
had  been,  a  dissatisfied  man  ;  and  although  he  did  not  ad- 


JOHN    RANDOLPH.  91 

mil  himself  to  be  a  member  of  the  federal  party,  he  was 
opposed  to  the  Republican  administration,  and  much  in 
clined  to  annoy  Mr.  Madison  by  all  means  in  his  power. 
It  is  difficult  to  describe  this  gentleman,  either  mentally 
or  corporeally,  and  yet  he  was  remarkable  in  both  re 
spects.  He  was  tall  and  slim,  and  stood  and  walked 
exactly  perpendicular.  No  marble  pillar  could  be  formed 
more  so.  He  had  a  fine  eye,  but  there  was  no  more  ex 
pression  or  variation  in  the  color  of  his  face  than  in  a 
block  of  granite.  :^*^* 

He  was  an  excellent  scholar,  and  one  of  the  most  ex 
tensively  and  best  read  men  of  the  age,  and  what  he  read 
or  heard  he  always  remembered  ;  and  yet  I  once  heard 
him  say,  in  a  speech  he  made  in  the  House,  (for  in  his 
speeches  he  talked  of  every  thing,)  that  there  were  but 
three  books  extant  which  were  worth  preserving,  and 
these  were  Gil  Bias,  Shakspeare,  and  the  Bible.  "  The 
works  of  Shakspeare,"  he  said,  "  contained  the  natural 
history  of  the  heart  of  man  and  his  passions.  He  knew," 
said  Mr.  R.,  in  his  own  peculiar  style  of  speaking,  "  the 
human  heart  as  well  as  he  who  made  it."  Of  all  men  in 
America  he  could  and  would  pour  forth  the  most  biting 
and  withering  sarcasm  upon  the  heads  of  his  unfortunate 
opponents.  I  recollect,  on  one  occasion,  he  put  to  the 
torture  that  great  lawyer  and  orator,  William  Pinckney  of 
Baltimore,  in  a  manner  that  distressed  him  beyond  meas 
ure.  Though  he  spoke  frequently,  and  sometimes  at 
great  length,  (once  he  spoke  the  whole  of  three  days  in 
succession,)  the  principal  debaters  could  not  suppress 
their  alarm  when  he  rose.  Like  raw  soldiers  at  the  mo 
ment  when  the  battle  is  to  begin,  each  one  trembled  for 
fear  he  should  be  shot  down.  Yet  Mr.  Randolph  was 
highly  imaginative,  and  extremely  nervous  ;  so  much  so, 


U2  JOHN    RANDOLPH. 

that  many  of  his  most  intimate  acquaintance  (for  friends, 
although  he  was  benevolent  and  kind-hearted,  owing  to 
his  frequent  indulgence  in  bitter  sarcasm,  he  had  none) 
believed  him  partially  insane.  He  himself  was  aware  of 
this  suspicion,  as  the  following  anecdote  will  show.  Pre 
vious  to  relating  it,  however,  I  ought  to  mention  that  Mr. 
Randolph  was  a  man  of  high  and  intense  ambition. 
When  the  majority  in  Congress  changed  from  federal  to 
democratic,  Mr.  Randolph  was  for  a  while  the  acknowl 
edged  leader  of  the  Republicans  in  the  House,  and  was 
made  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means. 
But  it  was  soon  ascertained  that  his  talents,  which  were 
formidable  for  attack,  were  not  suited  for  defence,  and 
that  though  he  could  pull  down  and  demolish  the  fabrics 
of  others,  he  could-  not  erect  a  structure  of  his  own  ;  and 
he  was  removed  from-  that  station.  It  is  said  he  sought 
a  foreign  embassy,  but  Mr.  Jefferson,  doubting  whether  he 
possessed  the  power  of  self-government,  and  the  prudence 
so  necessary  for  that  station,  declined  to  appoint  him.  On 
that  occasion,  he  called,  as  was  reported,  on  Mr.  Jeiferson, 
and  inquired  when  Mr.  Monroe,  who  was  then  abroad  on 
a  mission  to  one  of  the  European  courts,  was  to  return. 
"  My  reason,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  "  for  making  the  in 
quiry  is,  I  want  him  for  our  next  President.  /  do  not 
wish  another  philosopher  for  President."  But  I  am  losing 
sight  of  the  story  I  was  about  to  tell. 

On  one  occasion  Mr.  Randolph  had  spoken  unfavorably 
of  some  of  the  Virginia  institutions.  I  had"  previously 
observed  that  no  member  could  utter  a  word  against  Vir 
ginia  without  instantly  drawing  down  upon  himself  the 
maledictions  of  the  Virginia  delegation.  In  Mr.  Ran 
dolph,  who  was  himself  a  Virginian,  a  sarcasm  against 
that  state  was  treason  against  the  Ancient  Dominion. 


. 

JOHN    RANDOLPH.  93 

t 

Forthwith,  therefore,  P.  P.  Barbour,  ShefTy,  and  Jackson, 
young  members  from  that  state,  came  down  with  great 
wrath  upon  poor  old  Mr.  Randolph.  He  rose  and  stretch 
ed  his  tall  and  gaunt  form  to  its  full  height,  his  long  gray 
locks  seemed  floating  in  your  vision,  and  his  external  ap 
pearance  indicated,  what  in  truth  he  was,  a  great  man  in 
ruins.  "  In  my  younger  days,"  said  he,  "  I  have  in  this 
House  possessed  influence  and  distinction.  Those  days 
have  passed,  never  to  return; — and  sure  it  is,  like  old  King 
Lear,  I  many  times  feel  that  I  am  abandoned  by  the 
whole  world,  and  I  car*  say  with  the  old  crazy  king,"  (at 
the  same  time  extending  his  long  arm,  and  pointing  his 
skeleton,  finger  in  succession  at  Barbour,  ShefTy,  and  Jack 
son,)  "  the  little  dogs,  Tray,  Blanch,  and  Sweetheart — 
see,  they  bark  at  me."  Mr.  Barbour,  who  afterwards  was 
an  Associate  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  instantly  rose,  trembling  with  rage,  and  demanded 
an  explanation.  "  I  have  no  explanation  to  give,"  said 
Mr.  Randolph,  in  his  usual  shrill,  sharp  voice. 

Mr.  Randolph  had  been  a  member  of  Congress  so  long 
that  the  House  of  Representatives  had  become  his  home  ; 
and  he  seemed  to  feel  as  self-possessed,  and  as  much  at 
home  while  there,  as  the  schoolmaster  in  his  school,  or 
the  merchant  in  his  counting-room. 

One  particular  instance  of  his  self-possession  and  self- 
control  I  will  mention. 

While  speaking,  he  was  standing  in  the  alley  of  the 
room,  leaning  on  the  back  of  a  common  chair.  In  conse 
quence  of  some  motion  of  his  body  the  chair  slid,  and 
Mr.  Randolph  fell  on  his  back.  His  whole  length  was 
stretched  on  the  floor.  .  He  rose,  and  regained  in  a  very 
short  time  his  standing  position,  but  during  this  whole 
process  he  did  not  suspend  a  word  or  even  a  syllable  of 


94  RICHARD    M.    JOHNSON. 

his  argument.  Had  a  blind  man  been  listening  to  his 
speech,  he  could  not  have  perceived  that  any  thing  un 
usual  had  occurred. 

There  were  many  other  distinguished  and  highly  gifted 
men,  whom  I  have  not  named,  who  were  members  of  this 
Congress.  Such  for  instance  were  Mr.  John  Sergeant, 
and  Mr.  Hopkinson,  of  Philadelphia ;  Bartlett  Yancy,  of 
North  Carolina  ;  Forsyth  Cuthbert,  of  Georgia  ;  Governor 
Robertson,  of  Louisiana ;  Peter  B.  Porter  and  Erastus 
Root,  of  New  York.  The  reader  will  perhaps  be  sur 
prised  that  I  do  not  mention  RICHARD  M.  JOHNSON,  after 
wards  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  in  connection 
with  the  other  eminent  men  who  were  members  of  this 
Congress.  But  I  speak  of  men  according  to  the  impres 
sion  made  on  my  own  mind  at  the  time,  and  not  according 
to  the  portion  of  public  attention  they  afterwards  (and 
sometimes  fortuitously)  engrossed.  Colonel  Johnson  may 
have  been  a  brave  man  and  a  patriot,  but  he  certainly 
never  deserved  distinction  as  a  legislator.  He  was  quite 
incapable  of  making  a  speech.  He  used  frequently  to 
rise  and  say  something,  but  it  would  in  general  require  a 
more  discerning  mind  than  I  possess  to  understand  even 
what  he  intended  to  say,  or  the  conclusions  to  which  he 
desired  to  arrive.  The  National  Intelligencer  would,  it  is 
true,  the  next  day  after  Colonel  Johnson  had  occupied  the 
floor,  give  us  a  very  decent  speech  made  by  him,  which, 
although  I  had  listened  very  attentively,  I  protest,  with 
the  veracity  of  an  historian,  I  did  not  hear.  A  good  speaker 
never  has  justice  done  him  by  a  reporter.  A  bad  speaker 
appears  better  on  paper  than  on  the  floor. 

Colonel  Johnson  had  much  tact  in  snuffing  the  gale 
which  wafted  public  opinion  in  any  given  direction.  It 
was  said,  and  perhaps  truly,  that  he  voted  against  all  tax- 


THE    TARIFF    OF    1816.  95 

ation,  and  for  all  grants  of  money  ;  that  is,  he  would  help 
get  money  out  of  the  treasury,  but  would  afford  no  aid  for 
getting  it  in. 

The  great  measures  debated  in  this  Congress  were  the 
bank  and  the  tariff — of  the  former  I  have  spoken.  A 
tariff  for  protection  of  American  manufactures  had  never 
before  been  proposed,  or  advocated,  on  that  broad  ground. 
The  principal  ground  on  which  Mr.  Calhoun  and  other  en 
lightened  friends  of  a  tariff  for  protection  placed  their  ac 
tion  was,  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  in  order  to 
prevent  the  accumulation  of  a  fearful  balance  of  trade 
against  us.  While  the  corn-laws  of  England  remained, 
what  did  the  north  and  west  produce  which  would  be  re 
ceived  in  payment  for  European  manufactures  ?  Nothing 
— literally  nothing,  except  a  little  potash.  Unless,  there 
fore,  importation  of  foreign  goods  could  be  checked,  the 
grain-growing  states,  in  a  very  short  time,  would  be 
drained  of  every  dollar  of  their  specie.  These  were  the 
views  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  Gov.  Robertson,  and  other  south 
ern  members  ;  and  these  were  the  views  of  Mr.  Madison. 
The  eastern  members,  and  some  of  the  members  from  the 
northern  cities,  opposed  protective  duties  on  the  ground 
that  the  system  would  injure  the  commercial  and  shipping 
interest.  The  bill  finally  passed,  and  its  success  was 
greatly  owing  to  the  influence  of  Mr.  Calhoun, .and  the  ad 
dress  and  zeal  and  eloquence  of  Mr.  Clay.  It  is  worthy 
of  remark,  that,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Clay  and  the 
people  of  Kentucky,  the  two  parties  on  this  question,  as 
well  as  on  that  of  the  bank,  have  since  completely  reversed 
their  position.  Mr.  Calhoun  and  the  southern  people  now 
declare  a  protective  tariff  ruinous  and  unconstitutional, 
while  Mr.  Webster,  and  the  New  England  and  most  of 
the  northern  politicians,  insist  that  protection  is  not  only 


96  PRESIDENTIAL    CANDIDATES. 

constitutional,  but  essential  to  their  existence  as  a  flourish 
ing  community.  One  thing  is  certain,  the  constitution  has 
not  been  changed,  and  if  protective  duties  were  constitu 
tional  then,  they  are  constitutional  now.  I  have  observed 
that  southern  statesmen,  and,  indeed,  the  northern  also, 
with  great  facility  persuade  themselves  that  every  thing 
is  constitutional  which  will  promote  their  views,  and  that 
every  measure,  to  which  they  are  opposed,  is  uncon 
stitutional. 

There  were  three  prominent  candidates  for  the  presi 
dency  :  Mr.  Monroe  of  Virginia,  Mr.  Crawford  of  Geor 
gia,  and  Gov.  Tompkins  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Monroe  had  for  many  years  been  a  minister  of  the 
United  States  to  some  of  the  European  courts.  He  was 
mild  and  moderate  in  his  politics,  but  cautious  and  wary 
as  a  politician.  He  had  no  brilliancy  of  talent ;  he  ap 
peared  dull,  heavy,  and  inactive.  He  seemed  rather  to 
Jloat  than  swim.  Undoubtedly,  however,  he  possessed 
much  prudence  and  sagacity. 

WILLIAM  H.  CRAWFORD  was  Secretary  of  War.  He 
was  a  self-made  man,  of  great  energy  of  character  and  in 
tegrity  of  purpose.  He  was  frank  and  unreserved  in  his 
communications  with  all  men,  and  independent  in  forming 
and  firm  in  maintaining  his  opinions. 

DANIEL  D.  TOMPKINS  was,  at  that  time,  governor  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  and  had,  by  his  activity,  address, 
and  popularity,  rendered  essential  aid  to  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Madison  during  the  late  war.  He  was  not  a  great 
man,  but  from  his  good-nature  and  the  natural  pliancy  of 
his  temper,  his  disposition  to  oblige,  and  his  fine  social 
qualities,  he  had  many  personal  friends  in  his  own  state, 
and,  indeed,  wherever  he  was  known.  Besides,  he  was 
a  northern  man,  and  from  a  non-slaveholding  state — a  sec 


GENERAL   ROOT.  97 

lion  of  the  union  which  had  not  had  a  president,  who  was 
one  of  its  inhabitants,  but  for  four  years  since  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  government.  All  the  residue  of  the  time  the  presi 
dent  had  been  taken  from  the  state  of  Virginia.  When 
this  Congress  assembled,  the  greater  part  of  the  members 
(I  speak  of  the  Democratic  members)  from  the  north  were 
for  Governor  Tompkins.  Those  from  the  south  were  divi 
ded  between  Mr.  Crawford  and  Mr.  Monroe,  and  those 
from  the  middle  and  western  states  were  divided  between 
all  three.  Mr.  Madison  was  for  Mr.  Monroe,  and  aided 
him  by  the  executive  patronage,  so  far  as  he  could  with 
propriety. 

As  I  have  before  stated,  Peter  B.  Porter  and  Erastus 
Root  were  two  of  the  most  influential  men  from  the  state 
of  New  York.  Gen.  Porter  was  a  man  of  talents,  pro 
foundly  sagacious,  and  Governor  Tompkins  relied  much  on 
his  influence  ;  but  a  friendship  of  long  standing  had  ex 
isted  between  him  and  Mr.  Clay,  who  was  for  Mr.  Mon 
roe.  Probably,  through  the  contrivance  and  influence  of 
Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Madison  appointed  Gen.  Porter  one  of  the 
commissioners  to  settle  the  northern  boundary  line  of  the 
United  States,  and  from  that  time  forth  Gen.  Porter 
declined  any  apparent  interference  with  the  presidential 
question. 

GENERAL  ROOT  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  was 
educated  there.  He  was  a  man  of  great  talents,  and  in 
principle  and  in  grain  a  democrat.  And  here  let  me  re 
mark,  that  the  real  democrat  of  the  north — I  do  not  mean 
the  "  dough-faced"  northern  office-seeker  who  calls  him 
self  a  democrat — is  very  different  from  the  democrat  of  the 
south.  The  southern  democrat  is  for  maintaining  the 
lights  and  independence  of  the  planter  who  owns  lands 
and  slaves.  He  thinks  that  particular  class  of  men  ought 

7 


98  GENERAL    ROOT. 

to  govern  the  mechanic,  the  laborer,  and  especially  the 
black  race,  with  absolute  and  unlimited  control  :  that  the 
assertion  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  "  that  all 
men  are  born  free  and  equal"  is  "  a  mere  figure  of  rheto 
ric  :"  that  it  means  that  all  planters  have  an  equal  right 
to  control  the  conduct  of  all  other  men  according  to  their 
own  will  and  pleasure,  or  their  own  caprice  ;  and  in  short, 
he  "  thinks  it  freedom  when  himself  is  free."  I  do  not 
mean,  however,  to  include  in  this  category  such  patriots 
and  philosophers  as  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  a  few  others  of 
the  revolutionary  school — nor  indeed  such  statesmen  as 
Henry  Clay  and  John  C.  Calhoun. 

General  Root  zealously  and  pertinaciously  supported 
Governor  Tompkins  for  the  presidency,  until  it  was  clearly 
ascertained  that  it  was  impossible  he  could  be  nominated. 
Indeed,  it  was  early  ascertained  that  Mr.  Tompkins  could 
not  succeed  ;  for  the  southern  friends  of  Mr.  Crawford 
very  soon  declared  that  they  could  not  and  would  not,  in 
any  event,  support  Governor  Tompkins.  This  declara 
tion  imposed  on  the  friends  of  that  gentleman  the  neces 
sity  of  choosing  between  Mr.  Crawford  and  Mr.  Monroe  ; 
and  the  greater  part  of  them  avowed  themselves  for  the 
former,  some  on  account  of  personal  preference,  but  more 
for  the  reason  that  that  high  office  had  been  held  by  a 
citizen  of  Virginia  for  twenty-four  out  of  twenty-eight 
years,  and  they  thought  it  fit  and  proper  that  it  should  be 
bestowed  upon  a  citizen  of  some  other  state.  At  the 
time  when  it  was  first  settled  that  the  competition  was 
confined  to  two  candidates,  I  have  reason  to  know  that  a 
majority  of  the  members  were  for  Mr.  Crawford.  But 
the  caucus  \\as  from  time  to  time  procrastinated  until,  I 
believe,  the  month  of  March — and  in  the  mean  time  the 
executive  patronage  made  prodigious  havoc  among  the 


MISSOURI    QUESTION.  99 

Crawford  party.  The  northern  men  were  and  are  peculiar 
ly  susceptible  of  the  influence  of  governmental  patronage, 
and  they  have  an  instinctive  predilection  for  those  offices 
by  which  money  is  to  be  made. 

At  the  caucus  Mr.  Monroe  was  nominated,  by  a  ma 
jority  of  nine  votes,  over  Mr.  Crawford. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Missouri  question — General  James  Talmadge — The  relation  between 
Master  and  Slave  considered — The  question  respecting  a  Division  of 
the  Union  discussed — Personal  courage  of  Negroes. 

THE  summer  of  1817  and  the  winter  of  1818,  I  spent 
in  Raleigh  and  its  vicinity.  My  anxiety  for  the  health 
and  comfort  of  my  child  drew  me  there  ;  and  I  was  afraid 
that  long  and  continued  absence  would  wean  him  from 
me,  and  prevent  the  growth  of  that  tender  affection  which 
ought  to  be  well-rooted  in  the  breast  of  a  child  towards 
his  parent,  and  grow  with  his  growth.  In  the  spring  of  1818 
I  went  to  New  York,  and  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  sum 
mer  there  ;  and  in  the  course  of  that  summer  I  formed  a 
limited  partnership  with  a  commercial  house  in  that  city, 
in  which  I  invested  a  small  capital,  which  proved,  as  I 
have  related  in  the  first  part  of  my  memoirs,  a  very  profit 
able  investment. 

The  winter  of  1820  I  spent  principally  in  Washington. 
When  I  went  there  I  did  not  intend  to  stay  long,  but  the 
agitation  of  the  famous  Missouri  question,  which  became 
deeply  interesting,  induced  me  to  remain  there  till  that 
Cjucs1.  ui,  was  disposed  of. 


100  MISSOURI    QUESTION. 

That  the  few  remarks  I  intend  to  make  on  this  subject 
may  be  the  better  understood,  I  shall  briefly  state  the  cir 
cumstances  under  which  that  question  was  presented,  and 
the  real  question  which  was  decided.  This  statement  I 
make  from  my  own  recollection,  not  having  a  single  writ 
ten  or  printed  document  on  that  subject  before  me,  nor 
within  my  control.* 

The  territory  called  Louisiana  was  discovered  and  set 
tled  by  the  French — subsequently  ceded  by  them  to 
Spain — afterwards  reconveyed  by  Spain  to  France,  and 
in  the  year  1803  was  by  the  French  ceded  to  the  United 
States.  In  the  treaty  of  cession,  the  American  govern 
ment  stipulated  that  Louisiana  should  be  admitted  as  a 
state  or  states  into  the  Union,  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  other  territories  and  states  which  then  belonged  to  it. 
Under  this  arrangement,  the  southeastern  part  of  the  ter 
ritory,  including  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  had  been  ad 
mitted  as  a  state,  and  the  northwestern  part  of  it,  which 
makes  the  now  state  of  Missouri,  had  been  created  into  a 
territory,  its  governor  and  other  officers  having  been  ap 
pointed  by  the  President  and  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
This  territory  now  applied  to  be  admitted  as  a  state,  hav 
ing  more  inhabitants  than  the  number  requisite  to  entitle 
her  to  admission,  that  number  being  40,000.  By  the 
U.  S.  Constitution,  Congress  is  bound  to  guaranty  to  eve 
ry  state  a  republican  form  of  government ;  hence  every 
territory  requesting  admission  as  a  state,  must  first  frame  and 
adopt  a  constitution,  by  which  it  is  in  future  to  be  governed, 
which  it  must  present  for  the  inspection  of  Congress  at 


*  The  reader  will  please  bear  in  mind  that  Mr.  Melbourn  wrote  these 
Memoirs  in  England. — Editor. 


MISSOURI    QUESTION.  101 

the  time  it  asks  admission  ;  and  if  Congress  approve  such 
constitution,  if  entitled  in  other  respects,  it  is  admitted,  or 
otherwise  it  is,  or  ought  to  be,  rejected.  Thus,  if  a  state 
were  by  its  constitution  to  provide  for  an  hereditary  exec 
utive,  or  an  hereditary  nobility,  it  would  of  course  be  re 
jected. 

Missouri  had  in  the  constitution  which  she  offered 
provided  for  negro  slavery,  and  indeed,  according  to  my 
recollection,  had  inhibited  her  legislature  forever  after 
from  abolishing  it.  By  the  compact  of  the  old  thirteen 
states,  representation  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
is  apportioned  according  to  the  number  of  all  free  in 
habitants,  and  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons,  meaning 
by  other  persons  slaves.  Thus,  suppose  the  state  j>f 
South  Carolina  to  contain  300,000  free  inhabitants  and 
500,000  slaves,  and  the  ratio  of  representation  to  be 
one  member  of  Congress  to  30,000  inhabitants  ;  South 
Carolina  would  be  entitled  to  ten  members  for  her 
300,000  free  inhabitants,  and  also  ten  members  for  her 
500,000  slaves.  Now  slaves  are  by  law  declared  to  be 
personal  property,  and  this  gives  the  slave  states  a 
property  representation  which  is  denied  to  the  free 
states.  There  is  in  carrying  out  this  provision  most 
manifest  injustice.  In  illustration  of  the  injustice  of  this 
rule,  I  will  suppose  what  I  presume  is  the  fact,  assuming, 
however,  fictitious  numbers,  that  the  state  of  Massachu 
setts  contains  300,000  inhabitants,  the  value  of  whose 
personal  property  is  twice  as  great  as  the  property  of  the 
300,000  Carolinians  including  their  500,000  slaves,  and 
yet  the  300,000  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  would  have 
but  ten  members  of  Congress,  while  the  300,000  people 
in  Carolina  would  have  twenty  members.  Thus,  with 
one-half  the  amount  in  value  of  property  a  citizen  in 


102  MISSOURI    QUESTION. 

South  Carolina  possesses  twice  as  much  political  power 
as  a  citizen  of  Massachusetts.* 

Gen.  James  Talmadge,  an  eloquent  and  talented  mem 
ber  from  the  state  of  New  York,  objected  to  the  ad 
mission  of  Missouri  as  a  state  unless  her  constitution 
should  be  so  modified  as  to  prohibit  slavery,  and  es 
pecially  unless  she  was  deprived  of  a  representation  in 
Congress  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  her  slaves. 
This  produced  a  protracted  and  angry  debate,  which  took 
a  very  wide  range  and  elicited  much  local  feeling  and 
prejudice. 

By  Gen.  Talmadge  and  his  friends  the  horrors  of 
slavery  were  depicted  in  glowing  colors,  the  palpable 
injustice  of  slave  representation  was  distinctly  pointed 
out  and  strongly  urged  ;  and  it  was  further  insisted  that 
the  territory  of  Missouri  was  not  a  part  of  the  United 
States  when  the  constitution  was  formed  ;  that  the  right 
of  slave  representation  was  then  yielded  by  the  free  to 
the  slaveholding  states  as  matter  of  compromise ;  that  the 
proposition  to  admit  a  foreign  territory  into  the  Union 
was  the  offer  of  a  new  compact ;  that  it  was  therefore  the 
right  and  the  duty  of  the  old  thirteen  states  to  make 
such  terms  for  the  admission  of  foreign  territory  as 
should  be  just  and  equitable  ;  and  that  the  constitution  of 
Missouri  was  not  in  fact  republican,  inasmuch  as  it 
provided  that  a  part  of  its  inhabitants  might  make  slaves 
of  the  other  part. 

On  the  other  hand  it  was  urged  by  the  southern  mem 
bers  that  the  United  States  were  bound  by  treaty  with 
France,  to  admit  the  ceded  territory  into  the  Union  on 

*  Of  course  Mr.  Melbourn  means  twice  as  much  power  in  the  United 
States  House  of  Representatives,  and  in  creating  the  national  ex 
ecutive. — Editor. 


MISSOURI    QUESTION.  103 

the  same  footing  as  the  states  then  in  existence — that 
each  state,  by  its  own  inherent  sovereign  power,  had  a 
right  to  establish  or  abolish  negro  slavery — that  the  treaty 
also  provided  that  the  private  property  of  the  citizens  of 
the  ceded  territory  should  be  held  sacred — that  at  the 
time  of  the  cession  the  inhabitants  of  Missouri  held 
slaves  as  property — that  the  refusal  to  admit  the  territory 
as  a  state,  was  a  refusal  to  perform  the  stipulations  of 
the  treaty — that  it  would  cause  a  sacrifice  of  the  property  of 
individuals — and  that  the  faith  of  the  nation  pledged  in 
the  treaty  would  be  violated,  unless  Missouri  should  be 
admitted  with  the  constitution  she  had  formed. 

It  soon  became  evident  by  several  interlocutory  votes 
which  were  taken,  that  there  was  a  majority  in  favor  of 
Gen.  Talmadge's  proposition.  That  majority  was  sus 
tained  and  encouraged  by  resolutions  of  the  legislatures 
of  New  York  and  several  other  of  the  largest  states  in 
the  Union,  which  happened  then  to  be  in  session,  in 
structing  their  senators  and  representatives  not  to  vote 
for  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  unless  the 
restrictions  proposed  by  Gen.  Talmadge  were  adopted. 
In  this  state  of  the  question,  Mr.  Clay,  who  was  speaker, 
proposed  what  he  called  a  compromise.  This  proposi 
tion  was  to  admit  Missouri  into  the  Union  without  any 
alteration  of  her  constitution,  but  that  the  admission 
should  be  coupled  with  the  declaration  that  thereafter  no 
state  lying  north  of  latitude  36°  30'  should  be  admitted 
which  should  tolerate  slavery,  but  that  all  states  south 
of  that  line  might  hold  slaves. 

This  singular  proposition,  which  assumed  the  right  of 
Congress  to  reject  a  state,  which  by  its  constitution  au 
thorized  slavery,  and  which  affected  to  establish  moral 
and  political  rights  by  latitude  and  longitude,  was  finally 


104  DIVISION    OF    THE    UNION. 

adopted  by  a  bare  majority.  Partly  by  the  address  and 
personal  influence  of  Mr.  Clay,  but  probably  more  by 
the  influence  of  executive  patronage,  then  controlled  by  a 
slaveholding  president,  some  fifteen  members  from  the 
free  states  were  induced  to  change  their  votes  under 
pretence  that  they  approved  of  Mr.  Clay's  compromise. 
These  men  were  afterwards  justly  stigmatized  by  the 
sarcastic  John  Randolph  as  "dough-faces" 

The  result  of  the  final  vote  on  this  question  induced 
rne  to  form  the  opinion,  an  opinion  which  subsequent 
observation  and  events  have  tended  to  confirm,  that  the 
poor  slave  has  little  to  hope  from  the  northern  poli 
ticians. 

The  southern  members  threatened  that  they  would 
secede  from  the  Union  if  Missouri  was  not  admitted,  and 
many  of  the  honest  northern  people  were  alarmed  at  this 
vain  and  impotent  threat.  I  say  this  threat  was  vain  and 
impotent,  because  the  southern  people  cannot,  if  they  would, 
separate  from  the  Union,  and  sustain  themselves  as  an  in 
dependent  nation,  and  they  dare  not,  and  therefore  would 
not  if  they  could.  In  my  judgment,  if  the  Union  were 
divided,  slavery  could  not  exist  twelve  months  in  the  south 
ern  states. 

Why  should  not  the  truth  be  told  ?  The  relation  be 
tween  master  and  slave  is  necessarily  a  state  of  war. 
The  slave  is  a  prisoner  to  his  master,  not  by  natural  or 
moral  right,  but  by  physical  force  alone.  Hence  slave 
holders  will  not  discuss,  nor  suffer  to  be  discussed,  their 
right  to  their  slaves.  Were  the  venerable  and  benevo 
lent  Clarkson  to  visit  America,  and  attempt  to  convince 
the  slaveholders  that  their  true  interest  demanded  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  by  proving  that  free  labor  was  cheaper 
than  slave  labor,  that  gradual  emancipation  might  safely 


DIVISION    OF    THE    UNION.  105 

be  effected,  in  the  way  it  was  effected  in  New  York,  or 
the  villeins  were  emancipated  in  England,  that  their  slaves 
might  be  turned  into  a  tenantry,  or  hired  laborers — instead 
of  being  answered,  he  would  be  lynched.  If  you  appeal 
to  their  reason,  their  declared  political  principles,  and  their 
sense  of  justice,  like  the  Scotch  lords  they  lay  their 
hands  on  their  swords,  instead  of  replying  to  your  appeal. 
Is  it  not,  therefore,  war,  never-ending  war,  by  the  master 
upon  the  slave  ?  The  one  maintains,  and  the  other  yields 
to  authority  by  physical  force  alone.  Can  the  master 
complain  if  he  is  foiled  in  a  contest  which  he  himself  has 
voluntarily  chosen? 

I  say  then,  if  the  slave  states  were  severed  from  the 
free,  and  if  a  well-organized  army  of  10,000  men  were 
to  land  in  a  slaveholding  state,  protected  by  a  competent 
naval  force,  with  provisions,  and  arms,  and  munitions  of 
war  sufficient  for  an  army  of  60,000  men,  the  slavehold 
ing  states  would  be  subdued  in  less  than  six  months. 
How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  The  slaves  in  some  of 
those  states  outnumber  the  free  whites.  How  many  then 
of  the  whites  could  be  spared  from  the  defence  of  their 
own  firesides  ?  I  know  that  the  southern  men  are  as 
brave  as  any  people  on  earth.  No  man  doubts  their  per 
sonal  courage.  But,  alas,  what  could  they  do  to  repel  an 
invading  force,  when  each  man  has  a  deadly  enemy  in 
his  own  house  ? 

I  am  aware  that  I  shall  be  answered,  that  the  southern 
states  have  outlived  two  wars  with  Great  Britain  ;  but  it 
must  be  recollected  that  during  those  wars  Great  Britain 
herself  held  many  slaves  in  her  West  India  islands.  It 
was  therefore  dangerous  policy  for  her  to  encourage  a 
servile  war.  Is  that  her  condition  now  ?  Besides,  during 
the  Revolutionary  war,  it  was  well  known  that  Lord  Corn- 


106  PERSONAL  COURAGE  OF  AFRICANS. 

wallis,  with  a  comparatively  small  army,  in  a  short  space 
of  lime  marched  through  the  southern  states,  and  sup 
posed  them  entirely  subdued,  until  his  conquest  was 
disturbed  by  General  Greene  of  Rhode  Island,  with  his 
troops  raised  in  the  northern  and  free  states.  Everybody 
knows  that  the  last  war  was  prosecuted  by  the  British  for 
the  purpose  of  annoyance  and  not  for  conquest,  and  that 
they  on  no  occasion  tolerated  a  servile  insurrection. 
But  in  both  wars  I  presume  I  shall  not  be  contradicted 
when  I  assert,  though  I  make  the  assertion  at  random, 
that  nine-tenths  of  the  private  soldiers  who  belonged  to 
the  American  army  were  natives  of  the  free  states.  Ab 
stract  the  northern  and  western  men  from  the  ranks  of 
the  American  army,  and  you  will  find  an  army  of  officers, 
but  no  private  soldiers.  I  say  nothing  of  a  fact  which  I 
presume  all  men  will  admit,  that  money,  which  is  the 
sinews  of  war,  must  be  obtained  almost  entirely  from  the 
north. 

Again — I  may  be  told  that  the  negro  is  mild  and  yielding 
in  his  nature,  and  that  he  is  destitute  of  the  personal  cour 
age  necessary  for  a  soldier.  I  know  that  by  a  law  of 
Congress,  the  object  of  which  is  most  apparent,  no  colored 
man  is  required  or  permitted  to  do  militia  duty,  or  in 
any  other  way  to  learn  the  art  of  war,  and  this  provision 
extends  as  well  to  the  free  as  the  slave  states  ;  but  I  be 
lieve  there  were  one  or  two  black  regiments  enlisted  in  the 
northern  states,  and  who  served  during  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and  neither  their  skill,  bravery,  nor  fidelity  was  ever 
questioned. 

During  the  last  war  it  will  be  remembered  that  almost 
the  only  martial  glory  acquired  by  the  Americans,  except 
ing  always  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  was  acquired  by 
the  American  navy ;  and  it  will  be  conceded  that  a 


PERSONAL    COURAGE    OF    AFRICANS.  107 

great  proportion  of  the  fighting  men  of  that  navy  were 
negroes. 

The  managers  of  the  Park  Theatre  in  New  York,  in 
testimony  of  the  bravery  of  the  lamented  Captain  Law 
rence  and  his  crew,  manifested  in  the  brilliant  action  with 
the  British  sloop-of-war  Peacock,  invited  him  and  them 
to  a  play  in  honor  of  the  victory  achieved  on  that  oc 
casion.  The  crew  marched  together  into  the  pit,  and 
nearly  one-half  of  them  were  negroes.  I  have  been 
told  this  by  a  gentleman  who  was  an  eye-witness. 

Is  it  not  enough  to  degrade  and  oppress  the  negro  ? 
Must  he  also  be  branded  with  the  charge  of  natural 
cowardice  ?  During  the  dreadful  contests  which  have 
occurred  in  the  last  half  century  in  St.  Domingo,  I  have 
never  heard  the  negroes  charged  with  the  want  of  per 
sonal  courage.  The  time  may  come,  (which  may  a  mer 
ciful  God  avert,)  when  the  negro  of  the  United  States 
will  afford  a  demonstration  of  his  personal  bravery,  as, 
under  sufferings  the  most  extreme,  he  has  already  done 
of  his  patience  and  fortitude. 


108  IMPORTATION  OF  SLAVES  PROHIBITED. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Slave  Market  at  Washington — The  Law  of  Congress  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  Slaves  from  Africa,  beneficial  to  the  Negro  growers  in 
Maryland,  Virginia,  &c. — Ride  from  Washington  to  Baltimore — A 
Chivalric  Southerner — A  Philosophical  Wanderer  and  a  Quaker— A 
Discussion  011  the  subject  of  the  right  of  destroying  wild  animals — An 
ecdote  of  Bishop  Hobart. 

NOTHING  else  occurred  during  the  time  I  remained  at 
Washington,  while  this  Congress  was  in  session,  which 
much  interested  me,  except  an  exhibition,  which  I  before 
had  frequently  witnessed,  and  which  still  disgraces  a  city 
which  is  the  capital  of  a  government  that,  claims  to  be  the 
only  free  government  on  earth.  The  states  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia  are  the  great  slave-growing  states,  as  New 
York  and  Vermont  are  the  wool-growing  states  of  the 
Union.  The  purchase  of  Louisiana  and  the  new  settle 
ments  in  Alabama  and  Mississippi  have  greatly  increased 
the  demand  for  slaves.*  This  demand  is  further  aug 
mented  by  the  circumstance  that  on  the  sugar  plantations 
in  Louisiana  the  service  and  fare  are  so  hard,  and  the  cli 
mate  so  unhealthy  for  natives  of  the  northern  slave  states, 
that  the  stock  of  negroes  cannot  be  kept  good  by  natural 
population.  I  am  told  that  the  sugar  planter  on  the  banks 
of  the  Mississippi  requires  an  annual  addition  of  slaves, 
over  and  above  the  increase  by  natural  population,  of  ten 

*  The  purchase  of  the  Floridas,  and  the  annexation  of  Texas,  events 
which  have  occurred  since  our  author  wrote  this,  will  greatly  add  to  the 
demand  for  slaves. — Editor. 


SLAVE    MARKET    AT    WASHINGTON.  109 

or  fifteen  per  cent.  For  this  reason  the  law  of  1808,  which 
prohibited  the  importation  of  slaves  from  Africa  and  other 
foreign  countries,  is  highly  favorable  to  the  northern  slave 
states.  It  operates  as  advantageously  for  the  negro  grow 
ers  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  &c.,  as  an 
absolute  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  foreign  wool,  or 
manufactured  cloths,  would  to  the  wool-growers  and  man 
ufacturers  of  the  eastern  and  middle  states.  This  some 
of  the  Yankees  did  not  see,  and  others  more  shrewd  who 
saw  it  did  not  choose  to  seem  to  see  it.  But,  in  truth, 
the  very  men  who  exclaim  so  loudly  against  a  tariff  to 
protect  the  interest  of  the  north,  themselves  enjoy  not 
only  a  protection  but  a  prohibition  against  foreign  compe 
tition  with  their  staple  production.  It  is  said  that  Virginia 
alone  exports  annually  to  the  more  southern  states  42,000 
slaves  !  These  slaves,  at  the  moderate  price  of  $300 
each,  produce  to  Virginia  an  annual  cash  balance  of 
$1,600,000! 

The  northern  slave-producer  and  the  southern  slave- 
buyer  meet  at  Washington.  In  that  city  these  merchants, 
or  traders  in  human  flesh,  congregate.  To  this  great  mar 
ket  the  slaves  are  brought  like  cattle  to  Bull's  Head,  in 
New  York,  and  there  they  are  bought  and  sold.  Hence, 
droves  of  them  are  frequently  marched  in  platoons  through 
the  streets  of  Washington,  chained  to  a  bar  of  iron.  To  each 
bar  ten  or  a  dozen  negroes — men  and  women  grouped 
together — are  fastened  by  iron  bands  around  their  wrists. 
In  this  plight  many  of  the  droves  pass  directly  under  the 
windows  of  the  Capitol.  If  it  were  riot  for  the  painful  sen 
sations  excited  by  this  exhibition,  in  the  mind  of  a  spectator 
stationed  at  one  of  the  windows  in  the  gallery,  it  would 
to  him  be  ludicrous  to  hear  at  the  same  moment  the  crack 
of  the  whip  of  the  negro-driver,  and  the  moan  of  the  slave, 


110  RIDE    TO    BALTIMORE. 

and  at  the  same  moment  the  speech  of  some  orator  in  the 
Representative  Hall,  from  Alabama  or  Georgia,  lauding 
the  United  States  as  the  only  free  nation  on  the  globe, 
and  appealing  to  God  for  the  truth  of  his  asseveration,  that 
he  was  willing  to  shed  his  blood  in  defence  of  liberty  and 
the  equal  rights  of  man. 

Before  the  adjournment  of  Congress  I  concluded  to  go 
to  the  north,  thinking  that  a  residence  in  one  of  the  north 
ern  cities  would  be  more  agreeable  than  in  such  a  mo 
notonous  place  as  Washington.  Accordingly,  about  the 
middle  of  March,  I  took  my  passage  in  a  stage-coach  for 
Baltimore.  This,  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  was  long  be 
fore  the  railroad  between  Washington  and  Baltimore  was 
constructed.  At  this  season  of  the  year  the  road  to  Bal 
timore  was  very  bad,  and  it  was  considered  a  good  drive 
to  make  this  journey,  of  about  thirty-six  miles,  in  twelve 
hours.  The  stage  left  Washington  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  1  had  sat  up  late  with  some  friends  the  prece 
ding  night,  and  to  say  truth,  I  had  drunk  rather  freely.  I 
therefore  on  entering  the  coach  took  little  notice  of  my 
fellow-passengers,  but  quietly  located  myself  in  one  cor 
ner  of  the  front  seat,  drew  the  collar  of  my  cloak  over  my 
face,  to  preserve  it  from  the  sharp  morning  air,  and  soon 
fell  into  a  slumber,  from  which  I  was  not  awakened  until 
after  nine  o'clock,  when  I  was  roused  by  a  jog  of  my 
elbow,  and  a  sonorous  voice  calling  out,  "  I  say,  stranger, 
don't  you  want  some  breakfast,  or  do  you  live  without 
eating  ?"  I  started  up  immediately,  and  following  the  per 
son  who  addressed  me,  was  soon  in  the  breakfast-room  of 
an  hotel  which  was  little  more  than  eight  miles  from  Wash 
ington.  The  breakfast  was  on  the  table  in  a  moment,  and 
I  soon  found  that  the  only  persons  who  seated  themselves 
around  it  were  my  fellow-passengers  ;  and  I  now  for  the 


STAGE    PASSENGERS.  1  1  1 

first  time  observed  them  attentively.  They  consisted  of 
three  gentlemen.  The  person  who  sat  next  me  on  the 
front  seat  in  the  coach,  and  who  awakened  me,  was  a  man 
above  the  ordinary  size,  coarse  built,  red  hair,  with  a  flo 
rid  complexion,  a  large  mouth,  a  nose  which  was  varie 
gated  with  fine  bright  pimples,  and  the  tip  of  it  somewhat 
inflamed.  The  general  appearance  of  his  countenance 
was  fierce  and  ferocious.  He  wore  a  blue  straight-bodied 
coat,  trimmed  with  brilliant  metal  buttons,  cloth  vest,  open 
nearly  to  the  waistband  of  his  breeches,  so  as  to  exhibit 
fully  the  long  ruffles  of  his  shirt.  Inside  of  his  vest  hung 
dangling  a  leathern  sheath,  in  which  appeared  the  handle 
of  a  knife,  of  the  length  of  a  common  carving-knife  ; — 
over  his  pantaloons  he  wore  what  were  then  called  sherry- 
vals,  which  were  buttoned  on  the  outside  of  each  leg  with 
shining  metal  buttons,  set  so  near  together  that  they  al 
most  touched  each  other,  and  his  feet  and  legs  were  orna 
mented  with  thick  cowhide  boots.  Over  all  these  garments 
he  wore  a  shaggy  box-coat,  with  large  ivory  buttons. 
This  coat  had  large  side-pockets,  in  each  of  which  ap 
peared  the  breech  of  a  horseman's  pistol.  His  head  was 
graced  by  a  trooper's  cap,  ornamented  with  a  long  black 
fox-tail.  Before  he  sat  down  to  breakfast,  and  in  fact  the 
moment  he  entered  the  bar-room,  he  called  for  a  gill  of 
brandy,  in  which  having  infused  a  quantity  of  sugar,  he 
dispatched  it  with  wonderful  facility.  "  Mint  julep,"  he 
said,  "  answered  very  well  for  a  motning  draught  in  hot 
weather,  but  clear  brandy  was  the  best  cordial  for  a  gen 
tleman  in  the  winter." 

Directly  opposite  the  person  I  have  described  sat  a 
small  man,  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  a  Quaker.  His 
complexion  was  light,  his  face  pale  ;  he  was  slender,  and 
rather  emaciated  ;  his  countenance  was  open,  mild,  and 


112  STAGE    PASSENGERS. 

conciliatory ;  and  his  whole  appearance,  and  the  motion 
of  every  muscle  of  his  body,  indicated  quiet  resignation. 
He  had  fine  large  blue  eyes,  which  beamed  with  benevo 
lence,  sensibility,  and  intelligence.  While  I  was  observ 
ing,  with  much  interest,  this  gentleman,  I  perceived  that 
our  other  travelling  companion,  and  who  sat  opposite  to 
me,  was  surveying  me  with  close  and  critical  attention. 
The  name  of  this  gentleman,  with  whom  I  afterwards  be 
came  very  intimate,  was  Tobias  Thornton.  His  com 
plexion  was  dark,  forehead  high,  and  rather  protuberant, 
chin  and  lips  well  formed,  the  latter  closely  compressed 
when  not  talking,  a  large  nose,  fine  bushy  hair,  and  a 
small,  but  intensely  keen,  gray  eye  set  deeply  in  his  head. 
His  height  \vas  about  five  feet  and  eleven  inches,  and  his 
whole  form  was  in  perfect  symmetry.  I  observed  when 
he  came  into  the  house,  he  threw  off  a  rich  blue  cloak. 
His  under  dress  consisted  of  dark-colored  broadcloth, 
neither  so  rich  nor  so  gay  as  to  inspire  admiration,  nor  so 
unfashionable  as  to  excite  attention.  And  this,  by  the  way, 
I  take  to  be  the  best  evidence  of  good  taste  in  dress — that 
is  to  say,  a  gentleman  or  a  lady,  on  all  occasions,  ought 
to  be  so  attired  that  no  persori  will  notice,  or  be  apt  to  re 
member,  how  they  are  dressed.  Your  associate  ought  to 
make  such  an  impression  on  your  mind  that  you  will  re 
member  the  man,  and  forget  his  dress.  This  cannot  be 
the  case  if  your  friend  dresses  very  gay,  or  if  he  is  sloven 
ly,  or  very  unfashionably  apparelled. 

We  dispatched  our  breakfast  silently,  but  had  made  a 
scanty  meal,  when  we  heard  the  coachman's  horn  sum 
moning  us  to  the  carriage.  "  Damn  that  horn,"  said  the 
man  with  pistols  and  the  long  knife.  "  I'll  be  cursed  if  I 
leave  before  I  have  done  eating."  The  rest  of  us,  how 
ever,  rose,  and  prepared  to  proceed  on  our  journey.  As 


CAPTAIN  PUFF  AND  THE  COACHMAN.        113 

the  other  passenger  did  not  make  his  appearance  the 
driver  returned  to  the  dining-room,  and  gave  notice  that 
the  coach  would  wait  no  longer.  "  Damn  you,  for  an  in 
solent  puppy,"  said  the  gentleman  ;  "  do  you  think  I'll  be  • 
forced  away  from  my  breakfast  ?"  The  coachman,  with 
a  manner  very  cool,  told  him  he  did  not  wish  to  force  him 
from  the  table,  he  might  eat  as  long  as  he  pleased,  but 
the  stage  would  proceed,  and  he  might  come  on  at  his 
leisure.  At  this  our  companion  started  up  in  a  great  rage, 
drew  his  knife,  and  swore  that  he  would  put  the  driver  to 
death  instantly,  if  he  uttered  another  word.  It  would 
seem,  that  when  he  rose  from  the  table,  the  coachman 
recognised  him,  for  with  great  good-nature  he  immediate 
ly  replied — 

"Poh,  poll !  why,  don't  you  know  me,  Captain  Puff? 
Have  you  forgot  your  old  companion  at  the  Wheeling 
races  ?" 

"  By  heavens !"  said  the  Captain,  "  are  you  Torn 
Blinker  ?" 

"  I  reckon  I  am,"  said  Tom. 

"  Give  us  your  fist,  then,"  said  the  other,  "  and  go 
ahead." 

Captain  Puff,  after  this  recognition  on  both  sides,  ac 
coutred  himself  very  expeditiously,  and  entered  the  coach 
in  fine  spirits. 

"  That  driver,"  said  the  Captain,  "  is  a  rare  chap.  I 
saw  him  whip  home,  from  a  Methodist  meeting,  two  of 
Judge  Garland's  negroes.  He  did  it  in  fine  style.  The 
she  negro  was  the  finest  formed  wench  I  ever  saw.  She 
ought  not  to  be  kept  as  a  field-slave.  If  I  owned  her  I 
would  take  her  to  New  Orleans,  where  she  would  sell 
for  her  weight  in  gold." 

To  this  harangue   no  reply  was  made,  but  I  heard  the 

8 


114          CAPT.  PUFF  AND  THE  QUAKER. 

Quaker  sigh  once  or  twice,  and  perceived  the  face  of  Mr. 
Thornton  was  considerably  flushed. 

"  I  fear,"  said  the  Quaker,  addressing  Mr.  Thornton, 
"  we  shall  have  a  rain-storm  before  night." 

"  It  is  very  probable,"  said  the  other,  and  a  long  silence 
ensued. 

The  Captain,  finding  his  remarks  were  not  noticed,  sat 
for  some  time  in  sullen  silence. 

After  we  had  travelled  several  miles  from  the  place 
where  we  breakfasted,  we  came  to  the  farm  of  Mr.  Cal- 
vert,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  re 
spectable  families  in  Maryland.  At  that  time  he  had  re 
served  a  large  piece  of  land,  which  he  had  enclosed  as  a 
park  for  deer;  and  for  aught  I  know,  he  or  his  descend 
ants  still  preserve  it.  As  we  passed  we  saw  several  deer 
gayly  racing  in  the  park.  This  sight  roused  the  Captain 
from  his  apparent  revery. 

"  Oh,  that  1  had  my  rifle  !  By  heaven,  if  I  had,  cost 
what  it  would,  I  would  spoil  the  faces  of  some  of  them 
gay  fellows." 

"  And  why  would  thee  kill  the  unoffending  deer  ?"  said 
the  Quaker ;  "  they  never  injured  thee  or  any  one  else, 
as  I  know  of." 

"Why  would  I  kill  them?"  said  Captain  Puff— "a 
queer  question  that — why,  for  fun  to  be  sure." 

"  And  can  it  be,"  said  the  Quaker,  "  fun  or  sport  for 
thee  to  torture  with  wounds  and  deprive  an  innocent  being 
of  life  ?  Thee  cannot  give  life,  and  why  should  thee  take 
it,  except  in  defence  of  thy  own  life,  or  to  obtain  sus 
tenance  to  preserve  it  ?" 

"  Ha  !  ha  !  ha  !"  roared  out  Captain  Puff.  "  Pretty 
enough  !  So  I  have  not  a  right,  for  my  own  amusement, 


CAPT.  PUFF  AND  THE  QUAKER.          115 

to  kill  a  deer  running  in  the  woods,  or  a  bird  flying  in  the 
air — have  I,  brother  Saint  ?" 

"  No,"  said  the  Quaker,  "  thee  has  no  such  right.  It 
may  be  right  to  kill  those  animals  whose  flesh  is  neces 
sary  for  our  food,  and  whose  lives  we  have  preserved  by- 
feeding  them  at  our  own  expense,  which  expense  is  the 
avails  of  our  own  labor ;  or  it  may  be  right  to  kill  wild 
animals,  in  defence  of  our  own  lives,  or  even  those  which 
annoy  us,  or  destroy  the  fruits  of  our  labor  ;  but  it  cannot 
be  right  to  shoot  an  innocent  deer,  which  in  no  way  in 
jures  us  or  despoils  our  property,  but  which  has  supported 
himself  in  his  native  forest,  entirely  independent  of  the 
labor  of  man — or  to  shoot  an  eagle  on  the  top  of  a  tree  or 
the  summit  of  a  cliff.  To  deprive  such  animals  of  that 
life  which  God  has  given  them,  for  our  amusement,  is  a 
sin  against  nature  and  nature's  God.  Indeed,  the  fact 
that  a  man  can  find  amusement  and  pleasure  in  such  a 
destruction  of  animal  life  is  evidence,  in  my  humble  opin 
ion,  that  his  nature  and  taste  have  become  barbarous — 
that  instead  of  being  a  civilized  Christian,  he  is  in  reality 
a  savage" 

The  Quaker  spoke  this  with  some  warmth.  Captain 
Puff,  who  made  several  attempts  to  interrupt  him,  now 
said — 

"Hark  ye,  Mr.  Broadbrim,  if  you  call  me  a  savage  I'll 
cut  off  your  ears,  d — n  me." 

The  Quaker,  who  had  now  acquired  his  habitual  calm 
ness,  made  no  reply ;  but  Mr.  Thornton  said,  in  a  mild, 
but  very  audible  tone  of  voice,  that  "  it  was  an  evidence, 
and  a  pretty  sure  evidence,  of  cowardice,  to  abuse  a  fe 
male,  or  a  man  whose  religious  principles  forbid  him  to 
resent  an  insult." 

"Damn  you,"  said  Captain  Puff  to  Mr.  Thornton,  "do 


116         DESTRUCTION  OF  WILD  ANIMALS. 

you  take  up  the  quarrel  ?  My  scoring  knife  will  shave  off 
your  ears  as  quick  as  Groaning  Jonathan's." 

Mr.  Thornton  made  no  reply,  but  cast  such  a  look  upon 
the  gallant  Captain,  as  induced  him  to  remain  silent  the 
rest  of  the  way.  It  is  singular  how  easy  and  how  quick 
braggart  blustering  will  quail  and  cower  to  true  courage. 

"  My  friend,"  said  Mr.  Thornton  to  the  Quaker,  "  I  en 
tirely  agree  with  you,  that  it  is  wrong  to  take  the  life  of 
animals  for  amusement  merely  ;  and  yet  I  cannot  carry 
the  doctrine  so  far  as  to  consider  it  criminal  to  take  the 
lives  of  animals  which  we  have  neither  reared  nor  sup 
ported,  but  whose  flesh  is  agreeable  to  our  appetites,  and 
may  be  made  to  contribute  to  our  subsistence." 

"  Animal  life,"  said  the  Quaker,  "  must  be  considered 
a  blessing  ;  and  if  the  killing  and  eating  of  animals  tends 
to  multiply  their  numbers,  which  is  adding  to  the  quantum 
of  animal  life, — as  it  evidently  does  in  the  case  of  swine, 
and  a  multitude  of  other  domestic  animals, — it  seems  to 
me  that  our  practice  of  nurturing  and  providing  for  them, 
with  a  view  to  the  use  of  their  flesh  for  food,  is  carrying 
out  the  benevolent  designs  of  the  Creator  ;  but  to  kill  a 
deer  on  the  wild  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  or  a  buffalo 
beyond  the  Rocky  mountains,  certainly  cannot  have  the 
effect  of  multiplying  the  number  of  those  animals,  and 
therefore,  in  my  judgment,  is  unjustifiable,  except  when 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  human  life. 
In  that  case  the  killing  is  in  self-defence,  as  much  as  when 
three  men  are  starving  at  sea,  and  they  cast  lots  which 
shall  be  slain  to  furnish  a  supply  of  food  for  the  other  two. 
]  would  apply  the  spirit  of  a  transaction  like  this  to  the 
slaughter  of  animals  which  neither  injure  us  nor  our  prop 
erty,  and  which  subsist  independent  of  us." 

14  You  may  be  right,"  said  Mr.  Thornton  ;  "  but  before 


DESTRUCTION  OF  ANIMALS.  117 

the  subject  passes  out  of  my  mind,  it  is  my  duty  to  con 
fess  that  there  is  a  certain  species  of  animals  which  I  am 
in  the  habit  of  destroying  for  my  amusement  solely — not 
withstanding  I  have  admitted  the  correctness  of  the  rule 
that  we  ought  not  to  take  the  lives  of  animals  for  amuse 
ment  :  what  I  mean  is,  that  I  am  so  fond  of  fishing  that  I 
sometimes  fish  for  amusement  only,  and  suffer  the  trem 
bling  animals  to  perish  on  the  shore  without  making  any 
use  of  their  flesh." 

"  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  confess,"  said  the  Quaker, 
blushing,  "  that  I  do  the  like.  But  it  has  occurred  to  me, 
that  if  some  of  the  fish  were  not  taken  from  our  waters 
by  the  hook  or  the  net,  they  might,  if  their  ranks  were 
not  thus  thinned,  increase  at  such  a  rate,  as  that  diseases 
in  consequence  of  an  excess  of  numbers  would  be  gener 
ated  among  them.  May  not,  then,  the  diminution  which 
is  caused  by  an  indulgence  in  the  agreeable  amusement 
of  fishing,  actually  produce  or  cause  an  increase  of  the 
quantity  of  life  of  this  class  of  animals  ?" 

This  hypothesis  was  so  much  in  character  with  sly 
Quaker  subtlety,  that  I  could  not  help  smiling  ;  and  Mr. 
Thornton,  rather  sarcastically  as  I  thought,  thanked  the 
Quaker  for  this  new-invented  salve  for  his  conscience. 

"  But,"  continued  Thornton,  "  civilized  man — chris 
tianized  man,  will  have  a  heavy  account  to  answer  for  in 
justice  done  to  another  class  of  animals  :  I  mean  those 
domestic  animals  which  we  keep  for  our  own  use  or 
pleasure.  Such,  for  instance,  is  the  sheep,  the  cow,  the 
ox,  and  the  horse.  We  depend,  for  a  large  portion  of  our 
necessary  food  and  clothing,  upon  the  cow  and  the  sheep  ; 
and  to  the  labor  of  the  patient,  uncomplaining  ox,  and  the 
exertions  of  the  strength  and  muscular  power  of  the  sa 
gacious  and  intelligent  horse,  we  are  deeply  and  largely 


if: 

118  CRUELTY    TO    ANIMALS. 

indebted.  I  say  nothing  of  the  pleasure  we  enjoy  by 
means  of  the  docility  and  fleetness  of  this  animal.  And 
yet  how  miserably  are  they  oftentimes  supplied  with  food, 
and  other  necessary  animal  comforts  ;  and  with  what  sav 
age  cruelty  are  they  frequently  treated  !  Oh,  how  has 
my  bosom  burned  with  indignation  when  I  have  seen  a 
drunken  boor  beat  and  bruise  the  horse  (more  intellectual 
than  himself)  which  had  carried  his  burdens  and  borne 
his  own  body  from  place  to  place — the  quiet  and  gentle 
ox,  which  by  his  hard  labor  had  turned  the  clod  and  pre 
pared  the  earth  to  furnish  him  with  bread — the  uncom 
plaining  sheep,  whose  fleece  had  protected  him  from  the 
cold  blasts  of  winter — and  the  mild  and  inoffensive  cow, 
which  had  supplied  his  wife  and  children  with  their  most 
healthful  and  delicious  food  !  Rely  upon  it,  my  good 
friend,  that  of  all  animals  man  is  the  most  savage.  In 
deed,  he  is  not  only  a  savage,  but,  as  respects  other  ani 
mals,  he  is  a  ruthless  tyrant." 

"  And  so  he  is,"  interrupted  the  Quaker,  "  to  some  of 
his  own  species." 

"  There  are,  however,"  continued  Mr.  Thornton,  "  hon 
orable  exceptions  among  men  in  respect  to  the  inhuman 
treatment  of  brute  animals  ;  and,  in  truth,  when  I  com 
menced  this  course  of  remark,  I  had  in  my  mind  an  anec 
dote  of  Bishop  Hobart  of  New  York,  which  I  beg  leave  to 
relate.  The  diocese  of  that  reverend  and  pious  prelate 
extended  over  the  whole  of  the  great  state  of  New  York, 
and  though  his  constitution  was  feeble  and  sickly,  he 
generally  visited  each  year  every  congregation  under  his 
pastoral  care.  In  many  parts  of  the  state  the  country  was 
new,  and  the  roads  were  bad.  He  was,  therefore,  obliged 
to  travel  with  his  own  horse.  In  performing  these  long 
journeys,  he  felt  deeply  the  great  obligation  he  owed  to 


i 

ANECDOTE    OF    BISHOP    HOBART.  ] 19 

the  horse  which  bore  him,  and  in  his  kind  and  naturally 
benevolent  heart  an  affectionate  attachment  was  generated 
towards  those  animals  by  whose  labors  he  was  enabled  to 
perform  his  tedious  and  sometimes  solitary  journeys, 
something  akin  to  the  attachment  we  feel  towards  the 
members  of  our  own  family.  The  pure  and  sensitive 
mind  of  the  good  bishop  could  not  endure  the  thought  of 
permitting  the  horses  which  had  been  worn  out  in  his 
service  and  had  become  superannuated  by  age,  to  be  thrown 
upon  the  mercy  of  strangers,  and  he  therefore  purchased 
a  farm  on  the  Jersey  shore  for  a  home  for  those  horses, 
and  employed  and  paid  a  man  to  take  care  of  them.  When 
they  became  too  old  to  eat  hay  and  oats,  he  directed  that 
they  should  be  kept  in  warm  and  comfortable  stables,  and 
fed  with  meal  till  they  should  die  of  old  age." 

The  Quaker's  eyes  glistened  at  this  story,  and  he  de 
clared  that  the  bishop  had,  in  this  instance,  carried  out  the 
true  spirit  of  Christianity.  I  could  not  help  remarking  that, 
without  regard  to  any  and  all  other  good  which  the  bishop 
had  done,  he  ought,  for  the  single  act  related  by  Mr. 
Thornton,  to  be  now — where  I  believed  he  was* — in 
Heaven.* 

Before  we  arrived  at  Baltimore,  Mr.  Thornton  and  I 
agreed  to  stop  at  Barnum's  hotel.  The  Quaker  informed 
us  that  he  resided  in  the  city,  and  I  had  gradually  acquired 
a  feeling  of  so  much  interest  in  respect  to  him,  that  as  we 
were  getting  out  of  the  carriage  I  begged  him  to  excuse 
me  for  inquiring  his  name.  "  My  name,"  said  he,  "  is 
BENJAMIN  LUNDY  ;  thee  can  hear  of  me,  and  generally 


*  Our  author  is  here  guilty  of  a  most  palpable  anachronism.  This  con 
versation  is  supposed  to  have  occurred  in  the  year  1820,  and  Bishop 
Hobart  lived  many  years  afterwards. — Editor. 


120  HISTORY    OF    THORNTON. 

see  me,  at  No.  —  in street.     Thee  may  enter  at  the 

door  over  which  is  written,  *  THE  GENIUS  OF  UNIVERSAL 
EMANCIPATION.'  "  And  Benjamin  Lundy  it  was — the 
purest  and  most  benevolent  man  that  ever  set  foot  on  the 
American  soil,  and,  perhaps,  who  ever  trod  upon  the 
earth.  I  clasped  his  extended  hand  with  ardor,  and  said, 
"  I  already  know  much  of  you,  but  wish  to  know  more." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TOBIAS     THORNTON. 

MR.  THORNTON  and  I  remained  several  days  at 
Barnum's  Hotel  in  Baltimore,  during  which  time  I  be 
came  intimate  with  him  ;  and  the  foundation  of  a  friend 
ship  between  us  was  laid,  which  I  hope  and  trust  will 
continue  during  my  life.  As  I  shall  hereafter  have  oc 
casion  often  to  mention  him,  and  intend  presenting  my 
readers  with  several  of  his  letters,  I  think  it  proper 
in  this  place  to  give  a  brief  account  of  his  life  and 
character. 

TOBIAS  THORNTON  was  the  son  of  a  poor  man  who 
occupied  a  small  farm  near  the  Green  Mountains  in  the 
state  of  Vermont.  His  father's  family  was  large,  and 
the  means  for  the  support  and  education  of  the  children 
within  the  control  of  the  parent  were,  as  I  have  stated, 
very  much  restricted.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  the  health 
of  Tobias  became  impaired,  and  his  mother  insisted  that 
his  constitution  was  too  feeble  to  enable  him  to  get  his 
living  by  manual  labor.  He  had  early  distinguished  him- 


HISTORY    OF    THORNTON.  121 

self  in  the  district  school  in  the  neighborhood  of  his 
father,  for  his  rapid  progress  in  the  rudiments  taught 
there,  and  was  regarded  by  the  good  people  in  the  dis 
trict,  as  a  lad  of  uncommon  talents.  It  was  therefore 
determined  that  he  should  get  the  best  education  he 
could,  and  endeavor  to  live  by  his  learning.  But  how 
was  he  to  be  educated  ?  His  father  had  not  the  means 
of  paying  his  expenses  for  a  single  month  at  any  of  the 
high  schools  in  that  region.  Tobias  had  merely  learned 
to  read  and  write — had  become  pretty  well  versed  in 
plain  arithmetic,  and  had  acquired  some  knowledge  of 
the  English  grammar.  With  these  qualifications,  at  that 
early  age  he  commenced  teaching  a  common  school. 
He  succeeded  so  well  in  that  employment,  that  before 
he  was  twenty  years  old,  by  the  consent  of  his  parents, 
he  left  his  native  town  and  wandered  into  one  of  the 
northern  counties  of  the  state  of  New  York,  to  seek  his 
fortune.  There  he  resumed  his  pedagogical  labors  on 
a  salary  not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars  per  annum, 
and  continued  in  that  business  until  he  was  admitted  as  a 
student  or  clerk  in  the  office  of  a  country  attorney.  By 
rigid  economy  and  unyielding  perseverance,  he  eventually 
succeeded  in  obtaining  a  license  to  practise  in  his  pro 
fession. 

I  will  not  here  detain  the  reader  by  a  relation  of  the 
struggles,  the  difficulties,  and  the  mortifications  which 
this  young  man,  who  was  without  influential  relations  and 
stricken  with  poverty,  was  doomed  to  encounter.  Thorn 
ton  never  refers  to  this  portion  of  his  life,  without  mani 
festing  a  very  deep  tone  of  feeling,  which  was  undoubtedly 
excited  by  the  recollection  of  what  he  felt  and  suffered  at 
that  time.  His  success  in  the  practice  of  his  profession 
was  no  more  than  ordinary  ;  but  he  had  not  been  long 


122  HISTORY    OF    THORNTON. 

in  business,  when,  by  a  mere  accident,  he  was  employed 
by  Mr.  William  McBride,  a  merchant  in  Albany,  to 
secure  a  small  debt  for  him  in  the  county  in  which 
Thornton  resided.  This  circumstance  introduced  him 
to  an  acquaintance  with  Mr.  McBride — an  acquaintance 
which  produced  the  most  auspicious  results. 

I  must  interrupt  the  story  of  Thornton  long  enough  to 
say,  that  I  was  myself  acquainted  with  Mr.  McBride. 
He  was  an  Irishman  who  came  to  this  country  about  the 
year  1796,  with  no  other  resources  than  his  own  native 
powers  of  mind.  He  died  a  few  years  before  I  left 
America,  and  upon  his  death  it  was  ascertained  that 
he  had  accumulated  an  estate  of  nearly  two  millions  of 
dollars.  He  was  charged  with  being  rigid  and  severe  in 
the  means  he  took  to  increase  his  stock  of  wealth  ;  'but 
I  believe  this  charge  was  unfounded.  So  far  from  Mr. 
McBride  being  a  hard  and  severe  man,  I  personally 
know  he  was  strictly  just  in  all  his  dealings — that  he 
did  many  acts  of  kindness,  and  sometimes  manifested 
great  liberality.  It  is  true,  he  preferred  helping  those 
who  he  believed  would  help  themselves,  or  in  other 
words,  he  preferred  giving  aid  to  those  to  whom  that  aid 
wrould  be  of  permanent  use.  He  judged  of  men  with 
great  accuracy.  Of  all  men  I  ever  knew,  Mr.  McBride 
would  ascertain  the  true  character  and  look  through  the 
heart  of  a  stranger  the  quickest.  He  loved  his  friend 
with  all  the  ardor  of  an  Irishman.* 

Under  the  advisement  of  Mr.  McBride,  and  aided  by 
his  credit,  Thornton,  during  the  war  of  1812,  as  a  con 
tractor  to  furnish  supplies  to  the  American  army,  and 


*  We  suspect   our    author,  under   the    fictitious    name    of    McBride, 
means  to  describe  uhe  late  Mr.  WILLIAM  JAMES  of  Albany. — Editor. 


HISTORY    OF    THORNTON.  123 

by  some  fortunate  speculations,  succeeded  so  well,  that 
at  the  peace  in  1815,  he  found  himself  worth  in  cash 
•SI 00, 000.  This  sum  he  immediately  invested  in  treasury 
notes  and  government  stock,  which,  as  soon  as  the  United 
States  Bank  was  chartered,  rose  at  the  rate  of  twenty  per 
cent. 

From  this  brief  sketch  of  the  life  of  Thornton,  it  will 
be  perceived  he  was  entirely  a  self-made  man.  I  will 
only  add  that  he  was  extravagantly  fond  of  books,  and 
that  from  the  time  he  was  twelve  years  old,  he  vora 
ciously  devoured,  but  without  system  or  arrangement,  the 
writings  of  every  author  which  fell  in  his  way.  One 
day  it  was  history,  the  next  natural  philosophy — then 
poetry,  fiction,  politics,  devotional,  and  skeptical  works, 
&c.,  &c.,  engrossed  his  time  and  attention.  Knowledge 
from*  books,  if  knowledge  it  may  be  called,  was  lum 
bered  up  in  'his  mind,  like  that  heterogeneous  mass  of 
matter  which  one  may  imagine  a  monomaniac  might  col 
lect  and  store  away  in  his  garret — that  is  to  say,  blocks 
of  wood,  pieces  of  old  iron,  brass,  and  lead — pieces  of 
silver,  gold,  and  tinsel — the  whole  formed  into  one  mass 
by  a  quantity  of  filth  transported  from  the  kitchen. 
The  vigorous  intellect  and  clear  mental  vision  of  Thorn 
ton  in  afterlife  was  employed,  and  successfully  employed, 
in  sorting,  classifying,  arranging,  and  purifying  the  con 
fused  mass  of  ideas  which  had  been  thus,  as  it  were, 
casually  thrown  into  his  mind.  I  say,  successfully,  al^ 
though  it  may  be  that  even  yet  he  has  not  entirely  sepa 
rated  the  German  silver  and  the  high-colored  brass  and 
tinsel,  from  the  pure  silver  and  virgin  gold. 

In  religion,  or  rather  in  theology,  I  have  some  reason 
to  believe  Thornton  was  inclined  to  be  skeptical.  At  any 
rate,  I  discovered,  but  not  till  I  had  been  acquainted  with 


124  HISTORY   OF  THORNTON. 

him  for  several  years,  that  he  doubted  some  parts  of  what 
is  called  revealed  religion.  I  know,  however,  that  he 
firmly  believed  in  an  eternal  God,  the  great  soul  of  the 
universe,  in  a  superintending  Providence,  in  human  ac 
countability,  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  I  have  said 
somewhere  that  Thornton  was  a  pious  man,  and  I  believe 
it,  notwithstanding  he  indulged  the  unreasonable  doubts  I 
have  mentioned.  I  know  from  his  Diary,  a  part  of  which 
he  requested  me,  for  another  purpose,  to  peruse,  that  he 
never  surrendered  himself  to  sleep  without  an  humble  ex 
pression  of  his  gratitude  to  the  great  Giver  of  all  good, 
and  without  imploring  his  protection,  and  begging  to  be 
resigned  to  the  dispensations  of  his  providence.  He  re 
spected  and  venerated  all  religious  sects,  nor  did  he  limit 
his  respect  and  charity  to  Christians  only.  He  extended 
his  kind  feelings  to  the  Jew,  the  Mahommedan,  and  even  to 
the  Pagan.  He  has  told  me  he  never  could  reconcile  it 
to  his  conscience  to  attempt  to  disturb  the  religious  faith 
of  man  or  woman,  provided  their  religious  notions  did  not 
lead  to  immorality.  "  For  this  reason,"  said  he,  "  I  sel 
dom  discuss  theological  questions,  and  never  in  presence 
of  those  whom  I  know  to  be  attached  to  any  particular 
system.  If  a  man,"  he  would  say,  "  sincerely  worships 
the  great  and  eternal  God  of  the  universe,  to  me  it  is 
quite  immaterial  by  what  name  he  may  call  that  tremen 
dous  power." 

Mr.  Thornton,  immediately  after  the  termination  of  the 
war  with  Great  Britain,  wisely  declined  business,  and 
with  his  wife  and  child  visited  Europe.  On  account  of 
the  ill-health  of  his  wife,  he  returned  sooner  than  he  in 
tended,  having  merely  travelled  over  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland,  and  penetrated  the  continent  as  far  as  Paris. 
Not  long  after  his  return  his  wife  and  child  died,  and 


VISIT  TO  BENJAMIN  LUNDY.  125 

when  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him  he  was  alone  in 
the  world,  and  remains  so  to  this  day. 

He  refuses  to  join  any  sect  in  religion  or  party  in  poli 
tics.  He  is  a  mere  looker-on,  a  citizen  of  the  world. 
He  condemns  such  principles  as  in  his  judgment  deserve 
condemnation,  and  he  censures  or  applauds  with  free 
dom  and  independence  such  public  men  and  measures  as, 
in  his  opinion,  challenge  his  approbation  or  merit  his  de 
nunciation.  In  England  there  are  many  such  men  ;  in 
America  there  are  few — I  wish  there  were  more. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Visit  to  Benjamin  Lundy — Conversation  between  Mr.  Lundy  and  Mr. 
Thornton  on  the  subject  of  the  Abolition  of  Slavery — Reasons  urged  by 
Thornton  why  moral  suasion  will  never  produce  the  liberation  of  Slaves 
— Merchants,  Ship-owners,  Mechanics,  and  Clergy  of  the  Free  States 
— Their  feelings  as  fespects  the  question  of  Slavery. 

ON  the  third  day  after  our  arrival  at  Baltimore,  Mr. 
Thornton  and  I  agreed  to  make  a  call  on  Mr.  Lundy. 
We  were  both  of  us  subscribers  for,  and  readers  of  his 
paper,  which  was  called  "  The  Genius  of  Universal 
Emancipation  ;"  and  we  were  anxious  to  cultivate  a  per 
sonal  acquaintance  with  him.  But  before  I  again  intro 
duce  my  reader  to  Benjamin  Lundy,  I  will  remark  brief 
ly  that  he  was,  in  my  judgment,  one  of  the  most  extraor 
dinary  men  of  the  age.  He  had,  I  believe,  been  brought 
up  to  a  mechanical  trade  ;  I  think  it  was  that  of  a  saddle 
and  harness-maker,  a  business  which  he  had  for  a  few 
years  pursued  in  one  of  the  villages  in  Ohio  with  great 
success,  so  far  as  related  to  his  pecuniary  affairs  ;  but 


126  BENJAMIN  LUNDY. 

while   thus    successfully  engaged  in  the   acquisition  of 
wealth,  his  sensitive  mind  became  powerfully  impressed 
with  the  evils  and  injustice  of  slavery.    So  palpably  unjust 
was  it  in  his  view  for  one  man  to  claim  lo  own  another,  and 
hold  him  as  a  chattel,  that  he  thought  if  the  naked  question 
could  be  brought  distinctly  and  clearly  before  the  Ameri 
can  people,. the  human  mind  could  not  resist  truths  which 
were  to  his  mind  so  obvious  ;   and  that  all  men,  if  they 
could  be  brought  to  listen  to  his  arguments,  would  think 
as    he    thought,   and    of    course    that  the  claimant  of  a 
property  in  human  and  immortal  beings,  would  abandon 
his  claim  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free.     So  ardent  was 
his  benevplence,  and  so  great  was  his  zeal  for  the  liberty 
of  the  slave,  that  he  discontinued  a  very  profitable  busi 
ness  in  Ohio,  sold  his  property  there,  and  converted   the 
avails  into  money,  with  which  he  founded  and  established 
the  first  liberty  newspaper  in  America,  at  the  city  of  Bal 
timore  ;  and  bravely  concluding  that  the  best  plan  to  at 
tack  an  enemy  was  at  his  citadel,  he  located  himself  in  a 
slaveholding  city.     At  a  great  personal  sacrifice,  he  con 
tinued,  in  the  face  of  the  most  formidably  and  bitter  oppo 
sition,  to  publish  his  journal.     Eventually,  but  after  the 
time  when  I  was  first  introduced  to  him,  he  was  forced 
by  persecution,  and  by  the  want  of  means,  to  give  up  the 
publication  of  his  paper  in  Baltimore.     But  he  did  not 
give   up  the    cause    of  the    negro   slave.      The   United 
States  constitution  prevented  the  slave  from  finding  a  rest 
ing-place  in  any  of  the  free  states  of  the  Union.     Ben 
jamin  Lundy  sought  to  find  some  spot  on  the  great  conti 
nent  of  America,    which  might  be  rendered  an  asylum 
for  the  oppressed  negro.      With  this  view  he  went  to 
Texas,  then  a  part  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  and  "from 
thence  travelled  on  foot  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  in  the  hope 


CONVERSATION  WITH  LUNDY.  127 

of  negotiating  with  the  Mexican  government,  for  a  safe  re 
treat  for  the  descendants  of  Africa  in  some  part  of  that 
Republic.  In  this,  it  seems,  he  was  unsuccessful ;  and 
afterwards  this  real  apostle  of  liberty  sailed  for  St.  Do 
mingo,  with  a  view  of  encouraging  that  unhappy  people  to 
stand  firm  in  defence  of  their  liberties,  and  in  the  hope 
that  some  portions  of  our  black  population  might  find  pro 
tection  there.  I  am  but  slightly  acquainted  with  the  par 
ticulars  which  relate  to  the  life  of  Benjamin  Lundy.  His 
biography,  it  is  true,  has  been  written  and  published,  but 
I  have  not  seen  it  ;  still,  however,  I  do  know  enough  of 
him  to  reiterate  the  assertion,  that  no  more  disinterestedly 
benevolent  man  ever  trod  on  American  ground,  than  this 
same  Benjamin  Lundy. 

We  found  Mr.  Lundy  in  his  office,  sitting  at  a  table 
covered  over  with  open  letters,  newspapers,  and  pam 
phlets.  He  received  us  with  a  cordial  welcome. 

"  Friend  Melbourn,"  said  he,  "  since  we  parted  I  have 
been  led  to  believe  from  some  old  memorandums  I  have 
been  looking  over,  that  thee  was  born  a  slave  in  North 
Carolina,  and  was  liberated  and  educated  by  that  ex 
cellent  woman,  the  widow  Melbourn.  Am  I  right  in  that 
conjecture  ?" 

"  You  are  quite  right,"  said  I,  "  my  liberty,  education, 
and  property  are  the  gifts  of  that  benevolent  lady." 

"  And  a  kind  and  merciful  God,"  said  Lundy. 

"  And  what  are  your  prospects  of  success  in  the  great 
and  good  work  in  which  you  are  engaged,"  I  inquired. 

"  Alas,"  said  Mr.  Lundy,  "  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot 
encourage  myself  or  my  friends,  that  my  ardent  desire 
for  universal  emancipation  will  be  speedily  accomplished. 
The  human  mind  is  sordid  and  selfish.  Man  is  fond  of 
power.  He  delights  in  exercising  authority  over  his  fel- 


128  LUNDY    AND    THORNTON. 

low  man.  Give  every  man  the  power  of  Nero,  and  we 
shall  find  many  Neros,  even  among  our  most  zealous 
republicans.  The  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  and  the  late 
extension,  by  the  consent  of  Congress,  of  the  area  of 
slavery  over  the  vast  territory  of  Missouri,  will  increase 
the  demand  for  slaves,  and  encourage  the  raising  of  slaves 
in  the  old  slave  states.  Hence  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
which  from  considerations  of  political  economy  were  be 
ginning  to  devise  plans  of  gradual  emancipation,  have  en 
tirely  changed  their  views  on  that  subject,  and  the  people 
of  those  states  now  talk  of  the  raising  and  exportation  of 
slaves  to  the  new  southwestern  states,  as  the  staple 
commodity  of  the  country.  O  Henry  Clay,  Henry  Clay  ! 
a  man  whom  I  admire  and  love.  Henry  Clay  has  done 
an  irreparable  injury  to  the  human  race  by  his  course  on 
the  Missouri  question.  But  he  himself  will  be  punished 
for  his  own  sin.  The  south  will  never  forgive  him  for 
consenting  to  a  compromise  with  the  north,  and  the  north 
never  will  unite  as  against  the  south  in  his  support.  But," 
continued  Lundy  with  a  sigh,  "  it  is  said  the  darkest  time 
occurs  immediately  before  the  dawn  of  day,  and  I  would 
fain  hope  that  such  in  this  instance  will  be  the  fact.  At 
any  rate,  I  shall  continue  to  labor,  be  the  event  what  it 
may,  and  I  humbly  hope  that  God  in  his  own  good  time 
will  hear  the  groans  of  the  oppressed,  and  relieve  them. 
I  believe,"  continued  Lundy,  "  I  will  believe,"  and  a  lam 
bent  flame  flashed  from  his  eye,  "that  the  genius  of  uni 
versal  emancipation  will  ere  long  pervade  these  United 
States." 

"  And  by  what  means,"  said  Thornton,  "  to  be  put  in 
operation  by  human  agents,  do  you  propose  to  liberate 
the  slaves  in  the  slaveholding  states  ?" 

"  By  an  appeal,"  answered  Mr.  Lundy,  "  to  the  con- 


LUNDY    AND    THORNTON.  129 

science  of  the  slaveholder  himself,  and  by  an  address  to 
the  judgment  and  understanding  of  the  people  of  the 
slaveholding  states.  I  can  demonstrate  to  them,  and 
indeed,  I  have  demonstrated  the  gross  injustice  and 
wanton  cruelty  of  slavery  ;  that  it  is  morally  and  po 
litically  wrong  ;  that  it  is  an  outrage  on  human  rights, 
treason,  against  the  most  sacred  principles  of  our  national 
and  state  governments,  and  a  flagrant  sin  against  Al 
mighty  God.  In  short,  I  would  use  moral  suasion  alone. 
I  would,  and  I  do  discourage  resistance  by  the  slaves.  I 
protest,  as  by  my  religion  I  am  bound  to  do,  against  all 
physical  force.  By  these  means  Wilberforce,  and  Clark- 
son,  and  Pitt,  and  other  philanthropists  of  Great  Britain, 
have  succeeded  in  suppressing  the  slave-trade,  and  by 
these  means,  and  these  arguments,  this  letter,"  taking  one 
from  his  table,  "  which  is  from  that  great  and  good  man, 
Clarkson,  assures  me  that  in  a  very  short  time,  it  is  mor 
ally  certain  that  the  British  parliament  will  be  induced  to 
pass  a  law  to  liberate  the  slaves  in  the  West  India  islands." 

"  I  grant  you,"  said  Mr.  Thornton,  "  because  I  believe 
that  a  majority  in  the  British  parliament  will  shortly  en 
act  a  law  for  emancipating  the  West  India  slaves  ;  but  I 
deny  that  the  legislature  of  any  of  the  slaveholding  states 
of  this  Union,  except,  perhaps,  the  state  of  Delaware, 
will  ever  be  induced  by  the  means  you  suggest,  lo  liberate 
their  slaves." 

f"  We  shall  do  more  than  I  have  mentioned  to  aid  the 
cause  of  emancipation,"  said  Mr.  Lundy  ;  "  we  are  now 
about  organizing  Anti-slavery  Societies  in  all  the  free 
states,  who  will  raise  funds  to  support  the  apostles  of 
liberty,  who  will  go  forth  to  preach  liberty  to  the  captives, 
and  the  opening  of  the  prison  doors  to  those  who  are  un 
justly  bound  in  chains.  The  mighty  power  of  the  press 


130  LUNDY    AND    THORNTON. 

will  be  put  in  requisition,  and  instead  of  my  solitary 
weekly  sheet,  thousands  of  periodicals  will  issue  from  it, 
arousing  the  attention  of  the  people  of  the  free  states  to 
the  dreadful  condition  of  their  suffering  colored  brethren 
of  the  south.  Rely  upon  it,  my  friend,  the  human  mind 
cannot  resist  the  truths  which  will  be  urged  so  univer 
sally,  and  with  such  power." 

"  I  deeply  regret,"  replied  Thornton,  "  to  declare  to 
you,  that  in  my  judgment,  the  means  you  propose  are 
wholly  inadequate  to  accomplish  the  end  you  have  in 
view,  and  my  regret  is  greatly  increased  from  my  know 
ledge  of  the  fact,  that  you  are  influenced  by  the  most 
pure  and  benevolent  motives,  and  because  that,  from  my 
inmost  soul,  I  abhor  and  detest  slavery.  Nothing  could 
give  me  more  cordial  satisfaction  than  to  see  it  abolished 
by  peaceable  means  ;  that  is,  by  moral  suasion  alone, — 
but  this  cannot  be,  and  I  will  give  you  my  reasons  in  de 
tail,  though  I  fear  I  shall  talk  so  long  that  I  shall  trespass 
on  your  time,  and  exhaust  your  patience." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  the  Quaker,  "  I  will  hear  thee  with 
pleasure,  and  I  hope  with  profit." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Mr.  Thornton,  "  in  forming  an  opin 
ion  how  the  majority  of  men  will  act  on  any  given  question, 
either  in  politics  or  morals,  we  must  consider  men  as  they 
are,  and  not  as  they  ought  to  be.  It  is  from  a  neglect  of 
this  axiom  (as  I  deem  it)  that  philanthropists  like  you, 
friend  Lundy,  frequently  err.  They  are  conscious  of  the 
purity  of  their  own  motives,  and  the  rectitude  of  their  own 
principles,  and  they  naturally  conclude  that  all  other  men, 
if  furnished  with  the  same  lights,  will  think  and  act  as  they 
do.  The  result,  generally  disappoints  their  expectations. 
What  is  the  situation  of  the  slaveholder  in  North  Carolina, 
where  my  friend  Melbourn  was  bom  ?  His  parents,  grand- 


131 

pcirents,  great  grand-parents,  for  more  than  two  centuries, 
have  held  the  negro  as  property.  That  property  has  come 
down  to  him  from  those  for  whom  he  has  the  highest 
reverence  and  respect.  He  has  been  accustomed  to  have 
his  menial  services  performed  by  slaves  quite  as  long,  and 
with  as  little  question  of  the  right  of  demanding  those  ser 
vices,  as  that  his  grains  should  be  transported  to  the  mill 
by  his  beasts  of  burden.  The  practice  of  his  forefathers, 
tradition,  and  his  own  habits,  to  say  nothing  of  his  love  of 
ease,  have  rendered  his  mind  irnperviable  to  any  reason 
which  can  be  urged  in  behalf  of  the  negro.  You  might 
as  well  attempt  to  convince  him  that  it  was  wrong  to  com 
pel  the  ox  or  the  horse  to  labor  for  his  benefit  or  pleasure. 
But  habit,  tradition,  and  the  love  of  ease  in  the  master,  are 
not  the  only  obstacles  to  the  manumission  of  the  slave.  A 
more'  formidable — nay,  in  my  judgment,  an  insurmount 
able  one  remains  to  be  mentioned,  which  is  pecuniary  in 
terest.  However  we,  as  moralists,  or  politicians,  may 
reason,  the  slave  is  considered  by  law  as  the  property  of 
his  master ;  and,  in  some  respects,  much  as  I  detest  sla 
very,  I  am  compelled  to  admit  that,  as  relates  to  the  mas 
ter,  he  is  so  ;  for  the  slave  comes  to  his  master,  either  by 
descent  as  lands  and  goods  descend  to  him  by  bequest  of 
deceased  friends,  or  by  a  bonajide  purchase.  Who  among 
us  can  be  reasoned  into  a  belief  that  he  ought  to  give  up, 
or,  as  the  property-holder  will  say,  to  sacrifice  his  properly  ? 
From  long  habit,  and  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  around 
him,  the  slaveholder  regards  his  slave  as  much  his  prop 
erty  as  his  horse,  his  bank  stock,  or  his  land. 

"  Suppose  you  were  to  endeavor  to  persuade  the  farmer 
of  New  England  that  he  ought  to  relinquish  to  the  public 
his  claim  to  his  farm  ;  or  argue  with  the  speculator,  who 
has  purchased  a  section  of  wild,  uncultivated  land  in  Ohio, 


132 

or  Indiana,  that  he  has  no  natural,  exclusive  right  to  that 
land,  (and,  in  truth,  he  has  not,)  and,  therefore,  he  ought 
to  abandon  it  to  the  first  occupant ;  or  suppose  you  were 
to  exhort  the  bank  stockholder  of  New  York  to  give  up 
his  bank  stock,  for  the  reason  that  banking  is  what  I  be 
lieve  it  to  be,  an  unjust  monopoly,  and  an  encroachment 
on  the  rights  of  community,  will  any  man  of  common 
sense  indulge  the  expectation  that  any  process  of  reason 
ing  would  induce  the  farmer  to  surrender  his  farm,  the 
speculator  his  title  to  a  portion  of  the  wilderness,  or  the 
banker  his  charter  for  the  exclusive  right  of  issuing  bank 
notes  ?  If  you  answer,  as  you  must  answer,  in  the  nega 
tive,  then  I  affirm  that  neither  will  the  master  give  up  his 
property,  which,  according  to  the  law  of  the  state  in  which 
he  lives,  he  has  invested  in  his  slave." 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  a  majority  of  the  voters,  who  create  the 
legislature  in  the  slaveholding  states,  are  not  slave-owners. 
Why,  then,  may  not  the  arguments  of  friend  Lundy  be 
successfully  addressed  to  them  ?" 

"  It  may  be  true,"  said  Thornton,  "  that  the  majority  of 
the  voters  in  the  slave  states  do  not  hold  slaves,  but  every 
state  in  this  union  is  governed  by  the  public  opinion  in 
that  state.  Now,  public  opinion  is  created,  if  I  may  so 
express  myself,  by  the  opinion  of  the  most  intelligent  and 
influential  men  in  the  several  neighborhoods  which  com 
pose  a  given  state.  Take,  for  illustration,  the  common 
school  districts  in  the  state  of  New  York.  There  are  proba 
bly  10,000  of  those  districts  in  that  state.  J  will  venture  to 
say  that  public  opinion,  in  each  of  those  districts,  is  created 
on  an  average  by  not  more  than  three  or  four  men.  True, 
there  will  be  parties  in  each  district,  in  religion  and  in  poli 
tics,  but  those  parties  generally  originate  from  a  difference 
of  opinion  between  these  three  or  four  leading  men  ,  but 


133 

when  you  collect  the  aggregate  of  opinions  in  the  ten  thou 
sand  school  districts  in  the  state  of  New  York,  on  any 
given  question,  you  obtain  the  public  opinion  of  the  state 
of  New  York  ;  and  this  opinion,  when  traced  to  its  source, 
is  merely  the  opinion  of  about  one-seventh  part  only  of  its 
inhabitants. 

"  Now,  the  slaveholders  in  the  state  of  North  Carolina, 
for  instance,  though  numerically  in  the  minority,  yet,  in 
consequence  of  their  wealth,  when  compared  with  the  non- 
slaveholding  citizens,  and  their  superior  intelligence,  do 
govern,  have  governed,  and  will  govern,  public  opinion  in 
that  state,  and  of  course  control  the  popular  vote  of  the 
state.  When,  then,  will  North  Carolina  voluntarily  manu 
mit  her  slaves  ?  Never,  never  !  I  have  conceded  that 
the  British  parliament  will  abolish  slavery  in  the  West 
Indies.  But  who  compose  the  members  of  that  body  ? 
Every  one  of  them  are  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland — a  spot  of  earth  so  sacred  to  personal  liberty,  that 
the  moment  a  slave  steps  his  foot  on  that  soil,  his  chains 
fall  from  him.  But  suppose  the  majority  in  parliament 
were  planters  from  Jamaica,  or  were  chosen  by  Jamaica 
slaveholders,  when,  then,  would  slavery  be  abolished  in 
Jamaica  ?  I  again  answer — never,  never  !" 

"  But,"  said  Mr.  Lundy,  "  if  we  can,  as  we  hope  we 
shall,  excite  the  whole  people  of  the  free  states  to  exert 
their  influence  and  efforts,  politically  and  morally,  in 
behalf  of  the  abolition  of  human  slavery,  will  not  their 
voice  have  a  powerful  effect  upon  the  slaveholders  of  the 
south  ?" 

"  I  fear,"  said  Thornton,  "  that  even  your  hope  of  exci 
ting  the  people  of  the  northern  free  states  to  use  their  in 
fluence,  politically  or  otherwise,  for  the  freedom  of  the 
slave,  will  prove  delusive. 


134  THORNTON'S  ARGUMENT. 

"  The  influence  of  the  national  patronage  will  be,  as  it 
has  lately  been  in  relation  to  the  Missouri  question,  ex 
erted  in  behalf  of  extending  and  perpetuating  slavery. 
The  people  of  the  slave  states,  conscious  as  they  are  of 
their  physical  weakness,  by  reason  of  slavery,  are,  from 
a  principle  of  self-defence,  extremely  anxious  and  on  the 
alert  to  preserve  and  increase  their  political  power. 
Hence,  while  the  north  and  west  are  always  divided,  and 
by  means  of  those  divisions  their  vote  in  the  selection  of 
a  national  executive  is  nearly  neutralized,  the  slave  states, 
urged  by  their  common  interest  and  common  danger,  act 
in  harmony  and  give  a  united  vote.  By  this  means,  ever 
since  the  organization  of  the  national  government,  with  a 
single  interregnum  of  four  years,  the  president  has  been  a 
slaveholder  and  an  inhabitant  of  a  slaveholding  state.  And 
such  will  continue,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  to  be  the  re 
sult  of  our  presidential  elections.  Of  this  I  have  not  a  shad 
ow  of  doubt.  I  need  not  waste  words  with  you,  friend  Lundy, 
in  proving  the  immense  influence  of  executive  patronage, 
especially  in  the  great  states  of  New  York  and  Pennsyl 
vania,  over  the  political  and  social  actions  of  men.  What 
mere  politician  at  the  north  will  volunteer  an  opinion  in 
favor  of  the  liberty  of  the  slave,  when  he  knows  that  the 
promulgation  of  that  opinion  will,  so  far  as  the  national 
executive  is  concerned,  disfranchise  him  ? 

"  But  there  are  obstacles,  other  than  political,  to  the 
success  of  your  scheme,  even  in  the  free  states.  The 
lowest,  and  yet  a  very  numerous  class  of  white  people,  as 
well  at  the  north  as  the  south,  possess  no  sympathies  in 
favor  of  the  black  population,  whether  they  be  free  or 
whether  they  be  slaves.  Your  object,  my  friend,  and  the 
object  of  every  enlightened  and  benevolent  man,  is  to  ele 
vate  the  moral  character  of  the  colored  race.  This  object 


THORNTON'S  ARGUMENT.         135 

does  not  accord  with  the  feelings  of  the  lowest  class  of 
whites.  The  degradation  occasioned  by  slavery  has  in 
duced  a  feeling  of  contempt  for  the  whole  colored  race. 
The  philosopher  readily  traces  back  this  feeling  to  its  true 
cause.  He  perceives  that  the  degradation  of  the  negro 
has  been  produced  by  an  act  of  injustice  done  by  our 
selves,  and  therefore  he  will  not  tolerate  a  prejudice  really 
founded  upon  it.  The  ignorant,  the  unreflecting  and  reck 
less,  are  incapable  of  this  process  of  reasoning,  and  there 
fore  think  and  act  from  impressions,  created  they  know 
not  why  or  wherefore.  Besides,  there  is  a  propensity  in 
every  man,  however  degraded  or  low  he  may  be  in  socie 
ty,  to  be  superior  to  some  other  man  or  men.  If,  then, 
the  most  ignorant  and  vulgar  white  man,  according  to  the 
laws  of  the  society  in  which  he  lives,  can  claim  a  supe 
riority  over  another  man,  in  consequence  of  a  difference 
in  the  color  of  his  skin,  it  is  a  superiority  acquired,  or 
rather  which  is  cast  upon  him  at  so  cheap  a  rate,  that  it  is 
extremely  natural  that  he  should  be,  and  indeed  is,  de 
sirous  of  preserving  a  law  of  society  so  grateful  to  his  own 
feelings.  Hence  I  venture  to  predict,  that  in  your  future 
efforts,  you  will  everywhere  be  compelled  to  hear  the 
shouts  of  the  rnob  against  you.  , 

"  I  also  apprehend  you  will  find  the  shipping  and  mer 
cantile  interests  and  influence  against  you.  The  mer 
chant  and  the  shipper's  attention  is  called  to  the  balance- 
sheet  of  profit  and  loss.  What  can  the  ship-owner  and 
importing  merchant  gain  from  the  poor  slave,  and  what 
may  he  not  lose  from  the  hostility  of  the  planter  ? 

"  The  interest,  likewise,  of  the  northern  manufacturer 
and  mechanic  is  in  favor  of  slavery.  Nothing  is  more 
certain,  than  that  manufacturing  establishments  cannot 
flourish  in  a  slave  state.  There  are  not,  and  never  will 


136         THORNTON'S  ARGUMENT. 

be,  in  such  a  state,  a  sufficient  number  of  white  laborers 
who  will  work  at  day  wages,  to  supply  any  considerable 
number  of  factories  with  operatives,  and  the  slave-owners 
dare  not  permit  such  a  number  of  slaves  to  be  grouped  to 
gether  as  are  necessary  to  work  a  factory  of  a  reasonable 
size.  Nor  can  the  mechanic  arts  be  prosecuted  success 
fully  in  a  country  where  manual  labor  is  mainly  perform 
ed  by  slaves.  Hence  the  cabinet-ware,  the  shoes,  and 
even  the  wearing  apparel  of  the  people  of  the  south,  are 
furnished  by  the  cities  of  the  north  ;  and  I  am  much  mis 
taken  if  your  anti-slavery  associations  will  not  have  to 
encounter  a  fierce  opposition  from  the  cabinet-makers  of" 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  &c.,  as  well  as  from  the  shoema 
kers  of  Lynn,*  arid  all  other  places  of  that  description. 
For  the  honor  of  our  northern  colleges  and  other  literary 
institutions,  and  even  the  Christian  religion  itself,  I  wish 
I  could  stop  here,  but  I  cannot.  You  well  know  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  southern  young  men  receive  their 
education  at  the  northern  universities.  The  expenditures 
of  these  young  men  in  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  and  New  Jersey,  amount  to  a  large  sum  of  money 
annually  ;  and  the  professors,  managers,  and  victuallers 
of  those  institutions  are  deeply  interested  in  preserving 
and  continuing  the  attendance  of  these  young  gentlemen 
at  their  respective  colleges,  academies,  and  theological 
schools.  Nineteen-twentieths  of  these  southern  students 
are  the  sons  of  slaveholders.  When  therefore  it  is  con 
sidered  that  each  of  these  literary  establishments,  as  for 
instance  Yale  College,  in  Connecticut,  or  the  Andover 
Theological  Seminary,  in  Massachusetts,  depends  mainly 


*  The  mob  which  took  place  at  Lynn,  some  years  after  this  conversa 
tion,  verifies  the  prediction  of  Mr.  Thornton. — Editor. 


THORNTON'S  ARGUMENT.  137 

for  its  support  on  the  patronage  of  slaveholders,  is  it  to  be 
presumed  its  faculty  and  its  trustees  will  tolerate,  not  to 
say  encourage,  your  war  upon  slavery  ?  Sir,  they  will 
not. 

"  The  various  sects  of  Christians  at  the  north  are  anx 
ious  to  extend  their  respective  creeds,  and  multiply  their 
numbers  in  the  southern  states.  The  parent,  in  Connec 
ticut,  who  educates  his  son  for  the  ministry,  is  very  well 
pleased  if  that  son  can  be  well  and  comfortably  settled  at 
the  south.  Will  these  rival  sectarians  make  war  on  the 
domestic  institutions  of  the  southern  states  ?  Will  the 
candidate  for  a  settlement  in  the  ministry  in  South  Caro 
lina,  or  the  father  and  friends  of  that  candidate  in  Con 
necticut,  denounce  slavery  ?  Will  he  encourage  the 
slaves  in  that  state  to  read  the  Bible,  contrary  to  its  laws  ? 
I  tell  you,  my  friend,  he  will  not.  The  so-called  benevo 
lent  societies  of  the  north,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  Bible 
and  Foreign  Missionary  societies,  annually  receive  large 
contributions  from  the  rich  southern  planters,  contribu 
tions  which  are  filched  from  the  earnings  of  the  slave. 
Why,  sir,  but  a  few  days  ago,  a  pious  widow  lady  of  Al 
exandria,  who  was  the  owner  of  a  negro  man  and  his  wife 
and  five  children,  sold  the  man  and  twro  of  the  children  to 
a  planter  in  the  state  of  Louisiana  for  five  hundred  dol 
lars,  which  she  received  in  two  drafts  on  the  Bank  of 
America,  one  for  three  hundred  and  the  other  for  two 
hundred  dollars  ;  and  I  have  now  in  my  pocket  the  draft 
for  two  hundred  dollars,  endorsed  by  the  widow,  to  the 
order  of  the  treasurer  of  the  Bible  Society  in  New  York, 
as  a  donation  to  that  institution,  in  testimony  of  the  zeal 
of  the  donor  for  the  good  cause.  Do  you  think  this  so 
ciety,  in  any  of  their  proceedings,  will  utter  a  word  against 
slavery  ?  Thus,  unless  I  am  grossly  mistaken,  the  preju- 


138         THORNTON'S  ARGUMENT. 

dices  of  a  very  numerous  class — the  populace, — are  inva 
riably  against  the  color  of  the  African,  and  therefore  they 
feel  little  sympathy  for  the  slave  ;  and  the  interest  of  the 
politician  and  office-seeker,  the  ship-owner,  the  importing 
merchant,  the  manufacturer  and  the  mechanic,  the  litera 
ry  institutions  and  the  clergy  of  the  northern  free  states, 
is  against  your  enterprise,  however  just  and  however  be 
nevolent  that  enterprise  may  be. 

"  Do  not,  therefore,  give  your  money  to  lecturers  and 
missionaries  in  behalf  of  -the  slave  ;  they  will  be  laughed 
at  and  mobbed  by  the  people  of  the  north,  and  lynched 
and  murdered  by  the  people  of  the  south. 

"  What,  then,  you  will  ask,  is  nothing  to  be  done  for  the 
cause  of  liberty  and  human  rights  ?  Must  the  degradation 
and  suffering  of  the  African  be  perpetual  ?  Will  you  ex 
tinguish  in  the  bosom  of  the  philanthropist  the  last  glim 
mering  of  even  hope  itself?  I  answer,  much  may,  and 
ought  to  be  done.  But  slavery  has  existed  for  centuries. 
In  the  south  it  has  grown  up  with  the  states.  Its  extir 
pation  must  be  gradual.  It  cannot,  except  by  carnage 
and  slaughter,  be  suddenly  abolished.  Continue  the  pub 
lication  of  your  paper,  and  by  that,  and  other  publications 
of  a  similar  nature,  keep  the  subject  before  the  American 
people.  Vote  against  every  candidate  for  Congress  who 
will  not,  when  elected,  oppose  the  extension  of  the  area 
of  slavery,  and  who  will  not  vote  for  the  abolition  of  the 
slave-trade  between  the  different  states.  Refrain  from 
supporting  or  countenancing  those  ministers  of  religion 
who  either  directly  or  indirectly  justify  and  sustain  the 
horrid  position,  that  one  man  may  rightfully  own  another. 
But,  in  my  judgment,  the  best,  and  perhaps  the  only 
peaceable  means  of  producing  universal  emancipation,  is 
by  elevating  the  standard  of  morals  and  the  character  of 


139 

the  free  colored  people  among  us.  To  effect  this,  philan 
thropic  and  benevolent  men  in  every  free  state  in  the 
Union  should  organize  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  that  col 
ored  children  shall  be  educated,  and  well  educated  ;  in 
ducements  should  be  held  out  to  the  young,  instead  of 
following  servile  employment,  to  learn  and  pursue  the 
mechanic  arts,  agriculture,  mercantile  and  professional 
business.  A  systematic  course  of  respectful  treatment 
should  be  put  in  practice  towards  those  colored  men  and 
women  who  possess  talents  and  merit  irrespective  of  their 
color. 

"  For  a  most  obvious  reason,  the  slaveholders  have 
caused  Congress  to  enact  a  law — in  which,  as  in  all  their 
measures  for  perpetuating  slavery,  the  members  from  the 
free  states  have  concurred — that  no  colored  man  shall  be 
enrolled  in  the  militia.  Hence  all  practical  knowledge  of 
military  evolutions  and  tactics  is  kept  from  that  class  of 
our  citizens.  Instead  of  raising  funds  to  pay  abolition 
lecturers,  I  would  raise  a  fund  for  the  establishment  and 
endowment  of  an  academy  for  the  instruction  of  colored 
youth,  similar  in  all  respects  to  that  at  West  Point.  The 
pupils  should  be  selected  from  the  most  promising  lads  of 
the  colored  race.  There  let  them  not  only  be  taught 
military  and  natural  science,  but  let  them  be  taught  self- 
respect,  that  they  belong  to  the  great  family  of  man  ;  and 
inspire  them  with  a  high,  a  noble,  arid  exalted  ambition. 
Young  men  thus  educated  will  be  the  best  lecturers  and 
missionaries  to  effect  the  abolition  of  slavery,  because  in 
their  own  persons  they  will  afford  a  demonstration  of  what 
the  African  race  may  be  when  equal  competition  is  allow 
ed  them. 

"  Again — let  an  establishment  be  provided,  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  north  of  Mr.  Clay's  Compromise 


140         THORNTON'S  ARGUMENT. 

Line,  where  those  free  blacks  who  choose  to  live  separate 
from  the  whites  may  be  settled  ;  let  the  territory  be  suf 
ficiently  large  for  the  creation  of  some  three  or  four  states, 
and  let  them  there  organize  governments,  either  as  states 
of  this  Union,  or  as  an  independent  nation.  If  those 
highly  intelligent,  wealthy,  and  benevolent  men,  who  feel 
and  think  with  you  on  the  subject  of  slavery, — and  thank 
God  there  are  many  such, — would  concentrate  their  pecu 
niary  means,  their  influence,  and  their  efforts,  with  a  view 
to  effect  some  of  the  objects  I  have  suggested,  then,  in 
deed,  I  should  be  cheered  with  the  hope  that  the  injured, 
the  abused,  and  suffering  negro,  would,  at  some  future 
time,  rise  to  an  equal  rank  with  his  fellow  men." 

Thornton  now  begged  pardon  for  having  taken  up  so 
much  of  our  time  in  presenting  his  views,  but  Benjamin 
Lundy  assured  him  he  had  been  very  agreeably  enter 
tained. 

"  And  I  fear,"  said  Benjamin,  "there  is  too  much  truth 
in  what  thee  has  said.  I  cannot,  however,  give  my  as 
sent  to  some  of  thy  positions  ;  and  indeed,  thee  thyself 
must  perceive  that  thy  scheme  of  giving  a  military  educa 
tion  to  colored  boys,  squints  too  much  at  wars  and  fight 
ing  to  receive  the  approbation  of  an  humble  follower  of 
George  Fox." 

Thornton  and  I  soon  after  took  our  leave  of  this  good 
man. 


REMARKS    ON    THORNTON'S    VIEWS.  141 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Author's  Reflections  on  the  opinions  expressed  by  Thornton — Coloni 
zation  Society — Conversation  with  a  Negro  Stage-driver. 

I  REFLECTED  much  on  the  views  presented  by  Thorn 
ton,  and  it  appeared  to  me  then,  as  it  does  now — although 
the  history  of  the  opposition  in  the  free  states  of  America 
for  several  years  now  past,  to  the  abolitionists,  seems  to 
prove  his  opinions  in  the  main  correct — that  he  was  too 
illiberal,  that  the  majority  of  men  were  not  so  entirely 
governed  by  narrow,  selfish  motives,  as  he  represented  ; 
and  I  could  not  but  believe  that  palpable  and  clear  moral 
truths,  and  sound  political  axioms,  would  eventually  pre 
vail  over  those  sordid  and  selfish  propensities  which  he 
seemed  to  think  would  control  the  political  and  moral  ac 
tion  of  the  American  people. 

I  also  think  that  Thornton  does  injustice  to  the  Ameri 
can  clergy,  at  least  I  am  sure  he  does  to  the  clergy  of  the 
state  of  New  York.  I  personally  know  many  of  them, 
whom  I  believe  to  be  honestly  desirous  for  the  universal 
emancipation  of  slaves,  and  the  elevation  of  the  character 
of  the  blacks  in  the  fre^e  states.  Their  opinions  on  this 
subject  they  express  freely,  not  only  in  their  parochial 
visits,  but  in  the  pulpit. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  neither  Thornton  nor  Lundy 
noticed  the  Colonization  Society  as  a  scheme  which  prom 
ised  any  benefit  to  the  black  man  of  America.  Hence  I 
inferred  that  they  did  not  anticipate  any  good  from  that 
project,  and  I  afterwards  ascertained  that  that  inference 


142  COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

was  correct ;  in  which  opinion  I  entirely  concur.  That 
the  society  can  ever  effect  the  emancipation  of  the  negro 
race  in  America  is  so  obviously  absurd,  that  no  man  who 
has  any  brains  can  fail  of  perceiving  it.  As  a  means  of 
extending  Christianity  and  the  arts  of  civilization  in  West 
ern  Africa,  it  may  be  beneficial,  but  in  my  judgment  it 
will  retard,  and  was  by  many  intended  to  retard,  the  lib 
eration  of  the  slave  in  the  United  States.  It  was  calcu 
lated  to  drain  the  free  states  of  their  most  intelligent, 
enterprising,  and  meritorious  colored  citizens,  while  it 
enabled  the  slaveholder  to  send  to  a  returnless  distance 
from  his  native  country,  the  resolute  and  daring  slave, 
whom  it  might  be  dangerous  to  retain  on  his  plantation. 
It  was  an  ignis  fatuus,  to  delude  tender  consciences,  and 
divert  the  action  of  unthinking  but  benevolent  men  and 
wpmen  from  affording  effectual  relief  to  the  slave  by  a 
mere  show  of  it.  The  project  is  universally  unpopular 
with  the  colored  people  of  America.  They  regard  trans 
portation  to  Africa  as  a  banishment  from  their  native  land 
to  an  unhealthy,  savage  country.  This  idea  to  many  is 
more  terrible  than  death  itself. 

In  the  year  1816,  a  few  days  after  the  Colonization  So 
ciety  was  organized  at  Washington,  I  went  in  the  stage 
from  that  city  to  Richmond,  in  Virginia.  The  weather 
was  pleasant,  and  for  the  sake  of  viewing  the  country,  I 
rode  a  part  of  the  way  on  the  box  with  the  driver,  who 
was  a  negro.  By  this  the  reader  will  perceive  it  was  an 
accommodation,  and  not  the  mail  stage,  for  no  colored  man 
in  the  United  States  is  permitted  to  have  charge  of  the 
mail.  The  driver,  who,  though  a  very  sensible  man,  and 
though  he  was  a  slave,  had  heard  of  the  Colonization  So 
ciety  lately  organized  at  Washington,  and  of  its  objects. 
He  soon  began  to  make  some  inquiries  of  me  about  it. 


COLONIZATION    SOCIETY.  143 

In  my  turn  I  asked  what  he  thought  of  the  plan.  He 
said  he  did  not  like  it.  I  expressed  my  surprise  at  his 
answer,  for  at  that  time  I  really  thought  favorably  of  the 
project ;  and  I  suggested  to  my  companion,  that  if  all  the 
colored  people  in  this  country  were  set  free,  such  was 
the  prejudice  against  color  that  they  could  never  acquire 
an  equal  standing  with  the  whites  ;  that  in  all  the  free 
states  the  blacks  were  treated  as  an  inferior  race  of  be 
ings  ;  that  they  were  excluded  from  all  offices  of  honor 
and  profit ;  and  that  the  most  worthy  colored  man  was 
not  permitted  to  come  to  the  table,  and  eat  with  the  mean 
est  white  man  :  that  in  Liberia  it  would  be  entirely  differ 
ent  ;  that  a  competition  for  wealth,  promotion,  and  honor, 
would  be  as  open  to  the  black  man  there  as  to  the  white 
man  here. 

He  answered,  that  he  had  reason  to  believe  Africa  w^s 
a  barren  country — that  he  knew  it  was  a  savage  country, 
with  a  most  unhealthy  climate,  entirely  unsuited  to  the 
constitution  of  Americans  ;  that  whoever  went  there 
would,  for  many  years  at  any  rate,  be  exposed  night  and 
day  to  be  murdered  by  the  savages  ;  and  that  Liberia 
would  be  under  the  government  of  superstitious  and  self 
ish  priests  ;  that  the  negro  loved  the  soil  on  which  he  was 
born  as  well  as  the  white  man  ;  and  that  he  could  not 
endure  the  idea  of  banishment  for  life  from  his  native 
country. 


144  ON    READING    WORKS    OF    FICTION. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Author's  reflections  on  the  Utility  of  Fiction,  and  the  propriety  of 
spending  time  in  reading  it.  Writers  of  P'iction  should  describe  men 
and  their  passions  truly. 

FROM  Baltimore  I  accompanied  Mr.  Thornton  to  New 
York,  in  which  city,  and  at  Saratoga  Springs,  I  spent  the 
greater  part  of  the  ensuing  summer. 

At  New  York,  during  the  spring  and  summer,  little  is 
talked  of,  or  apparently  thought  of,  but  schemes  of  money- 
making  ;  and  at  Saratoga,  nothing  is  heard  of  but  politics 
and  the  gayeties  and  amusements  of  fashionable  life.  The 
resolution  which  I  had  adopted,  not  to  adventure  any  thing 
in  speculations,  prevented  my  taking  much  interest  in 
what  was  passing  in  New  York  ;  and  the  report  of  my 
African  blood  debarred  me  from  mingling  with  the  fash 
ionable  circles  at  Saratoga.  This  I  did  not  regret,  as 
more  leisure  was  afforded  me  for  solitary  rides  in  the 
country,  and  for  reading  ;  but  I  am  almost  ashamed  to 
say,  that  the  novels  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  then  being  issued 
from  the  press  in  rapid  succession,  revived  my  attachment 
to  fiction,  which  I  indulged  with  the  ardor  of  a  boy. 
Nothing  but  the  magic  power  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  could 
administer  even  a  temporary  relief  from  the  heart-rending 
grief  which  the  continued  thoughts  of  my  lost  and  my 
beloved  Maria  produced.  He,  indeed,  by  his  wizard 
wand,  could  transport  me  into  the  glens  and  among  the 
rocks  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  or  the  castles  of  the 
lowlands,  and  enlist  my  warmest  sympathies  in  the  for- 


ON    READING    FICTION.  145 

tunes  of  his  heroes  and  their  lady  loves.  And  I  must  be 
permitted  to  say  even  now,  when  every  thing  like  romance 
in  me  must  have  long  since  been  extinguished  by  age  and 
experience,  that  the  reading  of  fiction,  either  in  the  form 
of  narrative,  or  as  presented  in  dramatic  works,  is  an  ex 
cusable,  if  not  a  justifiable  or  praiseworthy  employment  of 
a  portion  of  our  time.  Fiction,  well  and  judiciously  writ 
ten,  contains  a  true  description  and  history  of  the  human 
heart  and  human  passions.  I  am  aware  that  I  am  now 
treading  on  contested  ground.  I  know  that  some  of  the 
wisest  and  best  among  us  denounce  the  reading  of  novels 
and  plays  as  a  useless  consumption  of  time,  and  as  tend 
ing  to  produce  a  pernicious  effect  on  the  youthful  mind. 
I  admit  that  those  works  of  fiction  which  present  to  the 
imagination  specimens  of  humanity  altogether  more  per 
fect  or  more  depraved,  I  may  say  more  diabolical,  than 
can  be  found  in  real  life — which  create  those  high-wrought 
images  of  virtue  and  magnanimity,  or  those  monsters  of 
iniquity  and  crime,  which  are  never  found  among  men-, 
but  which  exist  only  in  the  distempered  imagination  of 
the  novelist — are  evil  and  only  evil  in  their  tendency,  be 
cause  they  teach  the  young  mind  to  form  a  false  estimate 
of  men  and  things.  Nor  should  too  much  time  be  occu 
pied  in  reading  works  of  fiction  even  of  the  most  unex 
ceptionable  kind  ;  for  their  natural  tendency  is  to  trans 
fer  the  mind  from  the  world  in  which  we  live,  to  an 
imaginary  or  ideal  world.  Hence  I  have  observed  that 
some  persons,  and  especially  females,  who  possess  a  high 
degree  of  nervous  susceptibility,  are  ravished  with  the 
contemplation  of  the  virtues,  fortitude,  and  success  of  a 
favorite  hero  or  heroine,  which  is  the  creature  of  fancy  ; 
or  they  are  sighing  and  weeping  over  the  sufferings  of 
imaginary  beings  ;  but  these  same  ladies  have  no  eyes  to 

10 


146  ON    READING    FICTION. 

perceive  the  merits  of  those  around  them,  and  no  tears 
for  the  distressed,  or  alms  to  bestow  on  the  poor  and  af 
flicted  in  their  own  immediate  vicinity.  For  sympathy 
for  real  misfortunes,  they  substitute  a  sickly  sensibility — 
a  morbid  sympathy  for  shadows  which  exist  only  in  their 
own  disordered  fancy.  But  fiction,  as  it  should  be  writ 
ten  and  read,  presents  a  true  picture  of  the  action  of  mind 
under  given  circumstances.  The  description  of  plants, 
trees,  animals,  &c.,  is  called  natural  history  ;  and  I  would 
denominate  well-written  fiction  the  natural  history  of  the 
human  heart.  Habits,  and  customs,  and  fashions,  are 
different  in  different  ages  and  in  different  nations  ;  but  the 
substantial  qualities  of  the  mind  of  man,  and  his  passions, 
continue  forever  the  same.  They  undergo  no  more 
change  than  the  features  of  the  face.  How  much  have 
custom  and  dress  changed  since  the  days  of  Elizabeth  of 
England  !  An  English  lady  and  gentleman  arrayed  in  the 
fashionable  apparel  of  the  present  day,  if  standing  beside 
a  gentleman  and  lady  dressed  in  the  court  costume  of 
Elizabeth,  would  hardly  be  supposed  to  belong  to  the 
same  species  of  beings.  The  broad  scarlet  mantle,  the 
gay  and  fluttering  ribands,  the  glittering  buckles,  the 
golden  spurs,  the  lofty  crape  cushion,  the  hooped  petti 
coat,  the  extended  drapery,  &c.,  would  illy  accord  with 
the  present  style  of  dress  ;  but  upon  a  more  close  inspec 
tion,  the  natural  features  of  the  representative  of  the  court 
of  Elizabeth,  and  of  Queen  Victoria,  would  be  found  to 
be  the  same  :  the  same  hand,  foot,  mouth,  eyes,  &c. 
Now  as  face  answers  to  face  in  water,  so  does  the  heart 
of  man  to  man.  I  remark,  then,  that  those  writers  of  fic 
tion  who  (as  all  ought  to  do)  describe  man  and  woman  as 
they  are,  and  were, — (and  many  writers  do  so  describe 
them,) — those  that  give  us  a  true  account  of  the  action  of 


ON    READING    FICTION.  147 

the  mind  of  man,  formed  as  lie  is  of  passions  and  propen 
sities  which  are  intended  to  be  regulated  by  reason  and 
judgment — not  only  afford  the  reader  amusement,  but  in 
struction.  Goldsmith,  though  he  lived  in  the  last  century, 
and  three  thousand  miles  from  Boston,  when  in  the  per 
son  of  the  wife  of  the  good  Vicar  of  Wakefield  he  de 
scribes  a  mother  anxious  to  advance  the  fortunes  of  her 
daughters  by  procuring  for  them  rich  husbands,  and  using 
innocent  tricks  and  art  to  accomplish  that  object,  describes 
many  affectionate  mothers  now  living  in  the  old  city  of 
the  Puritans.  Jenkinson,  the  horse-jockey  in  the  Wake- 
field  market,  may  yet  be  found  on  the  Long  Island  race- 
ground  ;  and  George,  the  literary  vagabond,  who  had 
such  "  an  excellent  knack  at.  hoping,"  may  be  seen  stroll 
ing  in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia  or  Boston.  There  are, 
too,  in  the  western  world,  many  honest  Fanner  Flam-, 
boroughs  ;  and,  though  not  so  rich,  there  are  many  equally 
amiable  Arabella  Wilmots. 

Shakspeare,  though  he  lived  under  the  most  absolute 
monarch  that  ever  reigned  in  England,  when  he  describes 
JackvCade,  paints  to  the  life  the  demagogue  in  the  United 
States.  When  he  exhibits  the  great  Cardinal  Wolsey 
hastily  walking,  then  suddenly  stopping,  biting  his  lips 
and  muttering  to  himself,  while  with  infinite  ingenuity  and 
expense  he  is  constructing  machinery  which  is  to  conduct 
him  to  the  papal  chair,  and  invest  him  with  tli£  purple, 
describes  the  ambitious  plotting  politician  who  may  now 
be  seen  at  St.  James's,  or  at  Washington.  His  Shylock, 
though  an  Italian  Jew,  is,  with  the  exception  of  his  reli 
gion  and  the  habits  of  his  age,  the  miser  of  Wall  or 
Chesnut  street  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  Sir 
Walter  Scott  has  not  only  described  the  apparel  and  hab 
its  of  the  Scotch  Highlander,  but  he  has  given  a  true  and 


148  WESTERN    STATES. 

vivid  picture  of  the  human  heart,  and  human  passions, 
which  are  not  only  to  be  found  in  the  Highlands  of  Scot 
land,  but  which  are  now  being  daily  exhibited  in  New 
York,  in  London,  and  Paris. 

The  unlettered  and  untaught  Leather  Stocking  of 
Cooper,  may  at  this  moment  be  seen  wandering  along  the 
shores  of  Lake  Superior,  or  moving  with  stealthy  steps 
on  the  banks  of  Columbia  river. 

My  conclusion  is,  that  it  is  proper  to  read  fiction  for  the 
purpose  of  extending  our  knowledge  of  the  qualities  of 
the  mind  of  man,  of  mental  philosophy,  and  incidentally 
for  our  own  amusement. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Remarks  on  the  people  of  the  Western  States — Presidential  Election  in 
1824 — John  Quincy  Adams — General  Jackson — Martin  Van  Buren — 
Extra  Session  of  the  New  York  Legislature  in  August,  1824 — Election 
of  Mr.  Adams  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  in 
February,  1825 — Charge  of  a  Bargain  between  Adams  and  Clay  re 
futed — An  occurrence  at  the  Washington  Theatre  on  the  evening  before 
the  Election — The  old  Federal  party. 

FROM  the  summer  of  1819  to  the  winter  of  1824,  I  em 
ployed  the  greater  part  of  my  time  in  the  summers  in 
travelling  in  the  eastern  and  western  states,  and  in  the 
winter  at  the  south,  chiefly  in  Charleston  and  in  Raleigh. 
Although  a  majority  of  th&  leading  politicians  in  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri,  are  natives  of  the  southern 
states,  and  although  the  emigrants  from  the  south  were  gen 
erally  more  wealthy  than  those  from  the  north  and  east,  I 
did  not  fail  to  perceive  that  the  numerical  majority  of  the 


PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION,   1825. 


149 


inhabitants  consisted  of  emigrants,  and  the  descendants 
of  emigrants,  from  the  northern  and  eastern  states;  that 
Yankee  industry  and  enterprise  were  gradually  giving  them 
an  ascendency  over  the  natives  of  the  south,  and  that  the 
customs  and  manners  of  the  New  England  people  were  be 
ing  established  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio ;  and  I  venture 
to  predict,  that  in  less  than  half  a  century  there  will  be 
scarcely  a  shade  of  difference  in  the  fashions,  habits, 
and  modes  of  thinking  which  prevail  in  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut,  and  those  of  the  people  of  the  free  states  in 
the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi. 

Early  in  January,  1824,  I  took  up  my  residence  at 
Washington.  Here  the  great  question  agitated  was,  who 
should  succeed  Mr.  Monroe,  whose  second  presidential 
term  would  expire  on  the  third  of  March,  1825.  There 
were  at  this  time  five  candidates  for  the  succession.  These 
were,  William  H.  Crawford,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ; 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Secretary  of  State  ;  Henry  Clay, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  ;  John  C.  Cal- 
houn,  Secretary  of  War ;  and  General  Andrew  Jackson. 

I  have  in  a  preceding  chapter*  presented  my  views  of 
the  characters  of  Crawford,  Clay,  and  Calhoun  ;  and  it  is 
quite  unnecessary  to  repeat  what  was  said  on  that  occa 
sion.  General  Jackson  is  now  so  well  known,  that  I 
should  not  be  pardoned  were  I  to  occupy  the  time  of  the 
reader  in  describing  him.  That  he  was  one  of  those 
extraordinary  men  to  whom  personal  fear  is  utterly 
unknown  ;  that  he  possessed  unsurpassed  energy  of 
character  and  indomitable  resolution  ;  that  he  was  ar 
dent  in  his  passions,  equally  ready  to  defend  a  friend 
and  fight  an  enemy,  is  universally  admitted.  It  requires 

*  See  chapter  III. 


150  PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION,    1825. 

but  a  slight  knowledge  of  popular  feelings  and  preju 
dices  to  perceive  that  the  traits  of  character  which  I 
have  ascribed  to  General  Jackson,  and  which,  in  truth,  he 
possessed  to  a  degree  more  eminent  than  any  other  man 
of  his  age,  were  calculated  to  render  him  a  candidate  with 
the  PEOPLE  of  the  United  States  truly  formidable  to  his 
rivals.  There  was  a  brilliancy,  a  chivalry  in  his  charac 
ter,  which  dazzled  the  young,  and  which  excited  enthusi 
asm  even  in  the  old.  The  boys  in  the  streets  could  not 
refrain  from  shouting  when  his  .name  was  mentioned. 
The  last  time  I  saw  my  little  Edward,  then  about  ten 
years  old,  I  asked  him  in  a  playful  manner  which  he 
would  have  for  president,  Mr.  Adams  or  General  Jack 
son  ?  His  reply  was,  "  I  suppose  Mr.  Adams  is  the  best 
man  for  the  nation,"  (an  opinion  he  had  often  heard  me 
express,)  "  but  I  had  rather  have  General  Jackson." 
This  honest  declaration  of  the  child  was,  in  my  judgment, 
the  real  history  of  the  action  of  the  mass  of  the  American 
mind,  in  relation  to  this  distinguished  man.  Could  such 
a  current  of  feeling  among  a  free  people  be  checked?  and 
ought  not  sagacious  politicians  to  have  perceived  that  it 
could  not  ? 

But  the  great  statesmen  and  politicians,  and  the  mem 
bers  of  Congress  who  were  friends  to  the  other  candi 
dates,  entertained  no  jealousy  of  the  General.  They 
could  not  believe  that  a  man  who,  since  he  had  arrived  at 
mature  age,  had  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  the 
western  wilds  ;  who  was  a  stranger  to  that  species  of  ma- 
nffiuvring  and  management  believed  to  be  indispensable 
in  a  canvass  for  a  president  of  the  United  States  ;  who, 
comparatively  speaking,  was  illiterate,  and  who  was 
known  to  be  in  the  habit  of  deciding  and  acting  from 
the  impulse  of  the  moment,  and  sometimes  from  an  im- 


JOHN    QUINCY    ADAMS.  151 

pulse  created  by  a  passion  founded  on  personal  friendship 
or  resentment,  could  be  chosen  by  the  enlightened  people 
of  the  United  States  the  successor  of  a  Washington,  a 
John  Adams,  a  Jefferson,  or  a  Madison  ;  and  they  there 
fore  rather  encouraged  his  party  than  opposed  it,  the  friends 
of  each  of  the  other  candidates  hoping  to  be  able  ultimate 
ly  to  convert  some  part  of  the  General's  capital  to  their 
own  use. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  was,  and  is,  one  of  the  most  ex 
traordinary  men  of  the  age.  He  came  into  public  life  be 
fore  his  father  became  president  of  the  United  States, 
having  been  appointed  by  General  Washington  to  repre 
sent  the  American  government  at  some  of  the  minor  courts 
in  Europe.  He  has  been  one  of  the  most  laborious  stu 
dents  that  ever  lived,  and  has  probably  read  more  than  any 
other  man  in  America.  His  manners,  if  not  awkward, 
are  stiff  and  embarrassed;  and  although  he  was  educated 
in  Paris,  at  a  time  when  his  father  was  the  American  min 
ister  at  the  French  and  other  European  courts,  and  has 
ever  since  been  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  the  most  ac 
complished  courtiers  in  the  world  ;  if  you  were  to  meet 
him  in  company  without  being  informed  who  he  was, 
you  would  form  an  opinion  that  he  had  been  bred  a  gen 
tleman,  but  had  for  a  long  time  been  a  recluse  ;  and  this 
opinion  you  would  arrive  at  from  the  apparent  embarrass 
ment  in  his  deportment  and  manner.  This  peculiarity  in 
his  exterior  has  undoubtedly  been  occasioned  by  his  con 
stant  and  severe  application  to  study. 

Of  Mr.  Adams,  as  a  member  and  leader  of  a  political 
party,  and  as  a  statesman,  I  will  not  attempt  to  speak. 
His  public  character  is  well  known  to  the  world.  I  may, 
however,  be  permitted  so  far  to  express  my  individual 
opinion  as  to  quote,  as  applicable»to  him,  a  remark  said  to 


152  PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION,   1825. 

have  been  made  by  John  Jay,  formerly  Governor  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  Chief-Justice  of  the  United 
States,  as  expressive  of  his  opinion  of  John  Adams,  the 
elder.  "  Mr.  Adams,"  said  Mr.  Jay,  "  was  a  man  of 
strong  and  ungovernable  passions,  occasionally  imprudent 
in  action,  sometimes  great,  and  always  honest." 

Ever  since  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  Re 
publican  candidate  for  president  had  been  designated  by 
a  congressional  caucus,  and  that  practice  had  become  a 
part  of  what  may  be  called  the  common  law  of  party ;  but 
a  caucus  for  nominating  a  president  was  now  opposed. 
The  reasons  alleged  against  a  caucus  were,  that  the  mem 
bers  of  Congress  were  chosen  for  legislators  ;  that  their 
business  was  to  make  laws,  not  presidents  ;  that  after  a 
long  association  at  the  seat  of  government,  there  was  dan 
ger  of  bargains  for  the  benefit  of  individuals,  and  of  un 
principled  and  corrupt  combinations,  if  they  were  per 
mitted  to  designate  the  candidate  for  president.  These 
reasons,  however  sound  and  conclusive,  were  the  ostensi 
ble  and  not  the  real  reasons  which  induced  opposition  to 
a  caucus. 

Mr.  Crawford  had  among  the  members  of  both  houses 
many  more  friends  than  either  of  the  other  candidates  ; 
indeed,  I  believe  he  had  nearly  a  majority  of  the  whole. 
His  friends  claimed  for  him  that  he  was,  and  ought  to  be 
considered,  the  only  genuine  Republican  candidate  ;  and 
if  all  the  Republican  members  had  consented  to  decide 
the  question  in  a  caucus,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
Mr.  Crawford  would  eventually  have  been  nominated. 
This  state  of  things  induced  the  friends  of  all  the  other 
candidates  to  oppose  a  caucus  ;  and  finally,  they  pro 
cured  the  signatures  of  a  majority  of  the  Republican  mem 
bers,  and  it  was  a  bare  majority,  to  a  written  declaration 


MARTIN    VAN    BUREN.  153 

announcing  their  disapprobation  of  a  caucus.  This  measure 
effectually  prevented  any  concentrated  action  by  the  mem 
bers  of  Congress  on  the  presidential  question.  An  attempt 
was,  it  is  true,  made  to  get  up  a  caucus,  but  it  was  at 
tended  only  by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Crawford.  These  gen 
tlemen,  when  assembled, ascertained  that  their  numbers  did 
not  amount  to  a  majority  of  the  Republican  members. 
They  nevertheless  proceeded  to  pass  resolutions,  and  to 
nominate  Mr.  Crawford  ;  but  being  a  minority  of  the  party, 
their  recommendations  had  no  effect,  or  rather,  in  my 
judgment,  this  proceeding  was  injurious  to  Mr.  Craw 
ford  ;  because,  before  this  meeting,  it  was  believed,  at  a 
distance  from  the  seat  of  government,  that  a  majority  of 
the  Republican  members  were  Crawford  men,  and  the 
result  of  this  meeting  demonstrated  that  he  was  in  the 
minority.  The  contest  was  now  transferred  from  Wash 
ington  to  the  people  of  every  neighborhood  in  the  United 
States. 

The  summer  of  1824  I  spent  in  the  city  and  in  the 
state  of  New  York.  That  great  state  was  terribly 
convulsed  by  the  excited  action  of  political  partisans. 
There,  as  well  as  at  Washington,  each  of  the  five  can 
didates  had  his  supporters  among  the  people ;  and  there, 
as  at  Washington,  a  plurality  of  the  democratic  party  were, 
as  I  believe,  for  Mr.  Crawford. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  attempt  to  exhibit  even  a 
glimpse  of  the  intricate  politics  of  the  stale  of  New  York, 
or  the  various  factions  into  which  that  state  was  divided. 

MARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  afterwards  President  of  the  Uni 
ted  States,  and  then  a  senator  from  the  state  of  New  York, 
was  the  leader  of  the  Crawford  party  in  that  state,  and  in 
fact  in  the  United  States.  Oliver  Cromwell,  whom  I  con 
sider,  take  him  all  in  all,  was  the  greatest  man  that  ever 


154  MARTIN    VAN    BUREN. 

England  produced,  was  not  more  the  manufacturer  of  his 
own  fortune  than  Martin  Van  Buren — perhaps  not  so 
much  ;  for  Cromwell  started  in  his  political  career  with 
the  powerful  aid  of  John  Hampden.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  hav 
ing  commenced  life  with  the  lower  order  of  society,  from 
whence  he  gradually  advanced  to  the  highest,  was  ac 
quainted  with  man  in  every  rank  in  which  fortune  in  this 
community  can  place  him  ;  and  his  keen,  intellectual  vision 
enabled  him  to  look  deeply  into  the  human  heart,  what 
ever  position  in  society  the  actor  might  occupy.  I  knew 
Mr.  Van  Buren  well.  He  certainly  was  exceedingly 
amiable  in  social  life.  As  a  political  manager  he  was 
shrewd,  sagacious,  and  cautious.  He  was  quick  to  avail 
himself  of  the  errors  of  his  adversaries,  and  generous 
towards  a  conquered  enemy  ;  but  cold,  calculating,  and 
selfish,  he  steadily  pursued  all  means  which  tended  to  his 
own  advancement,  and  this  without  much  regard  to  the 
personal  interests  of  his  friends.  His  talents,  unques 
tionably,  were  of  the  highest  order.  He  had,  beyond  a 
doubt,  at  this  time  fixed  his  eye  on  the  presidency ;  and 
he  well  knew  that  the  united  support  of  the  democratic 
party  in  the  nation  was  the  only  means  by  which  he  could 
arrive  at  that  exalted  station.  A  large  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  slaveholding  states  claimed  to  be  democrats. 
Mr.  Van  Buren  also  well  knew  that  on  the  presidential 
question  the  southern  states  had  always  acted  in  unison, 
and  he  believed  they  would  continue  so  to  act.  Mr.  Cal- 
houn,  having  declined  to  canvass,  and  declared  himself  to 
be  in  favor  of  General  Jackson,  Mr.  Crawford  had  be 
come  the  southern  candidate  ;  and  I  think  it  fair  to  pre 
sume,  that  the  prospect  of  attaching  the  south  to  him  on 
a  future  canvass,  strengthened  the  zeal  of  Mr.  Van  Buren 
in  behalf  of  Mr.  Crawford  ;  and  undoubtedly  his  zeal  was 


PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION,    1825.  155 

the  more  ardent,  because  he  must  have  been  very  certain 
that  whatever  the  result  of  the  approaching  election  might 
be,  the  northern  democracy  would  ultimately  follow  in  the 
train  of  the  southern  politicians. 

I  was  at  Albany  during  the  extra  session  of  the  legisla 
ture  in  August,  1824 — called,  as  alleged,  for  the  purpose 
of  enacting  a  law  requiring  that  the  presidential  electors 
should  be  chosen  by  the  people.  The  session  lasted  but 
a  few  days  ;  but  a  higher  degree  of  excitement  I  never 
saw  in  a  legislative  body.  Gen.  James  Tahnadge,  who 
had  distinguished  himself  so  pre-eminently  on  the  Missouri 
question,  was  a  member  of  the  assembly,  and  a  leader  of 
the  opposition  to  the  Crawford  party.  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  hearing  him  deliver  one  of  his  most  eloquent  speeches. 
The  lobby  and  the  galleries,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  house,  greeted  him  with  the  most 
rapturous  and  clamorous  applause. 

I  was  at  Washington  in  December.  No  choice  of 
president  was  made  by  the  electoral  colleges.  Jackson 
had  a  large  plurality  of  votes  ;  Adams  was  next  to  him ; 
Crawford  had  forty-one,  and  Clay  thirty-seven  votes.  I 
hardly  need  mention  that,  by  the  United  States  constitu 
tion,  the  election  in  this  case  was  required  to  be  made  from 
the  three  candidates  who  had  received  the  greatest  num 
ber  of  votes,  by  the  members  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  voting  by  states — the  majority  of  the  members 
representing  each  state  casting  the  vote  of  such  stale.  Mr. 
Clay,  therefore,  was,  by  the  constitution,  excluded  from 
entering  the  arena. 

An  interesting  and  exciting  scene  of  electioneering  was 
now  opened.  A  large  majority  of  the  states  were  against 
Mr.  Crawford.  Independent  of  the  political  objections 
which  existed  against  him,  he  had  lately  been  the  subject 


156  PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION,    1825. 

of  a  paralytic  shock,  which  had  greatly  injured  his  health, 
and  which,  it  was  feared,  had  impaired  his  mental  fac 
ulties.  His  friends,  therefore,  despaired  of  electing  him. 
The  object  of  Van  Buren  and  the  Crawford  party  seemed 
to  be,  to  prevent  either  Adams  or  Jackson  from  getting  a 
majority  of  the  states,  and  then  to  come  in  and  make  one 
or  other  of  them  President — and,  of  course,  whichever  of 
them  should  thus  be  elected,  would  know  to  whom  he 
owed  his  success.  This  scheme  was  defeated  by  the  ad 
dress  and  influence  of  Mr.  Clay,  who  took  a  very  active 
part  in  favor  of  Mr.  Adams.  The  five  New  England  states, 
the  states  of  New  Jersey  and  New  York,  as  between  Ad 
ams  and  Jackson,  were  for  the  former,  and  Mr.  Clay  car 
ried  with  him  a  sufficient  number  of  the  western  states  to 
elect  Mr.  Adams. 

Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Adams  had,  for  several  years  and 
down  to  the  canvass  in  December,  been  supposed  to  be 
personally  hostile  to  each  other,  and  each  had  publicly  de 
nounced  the  other  in  the 'newspapers.  All  men,  therefore, 
viewed  with  astonishment  the  course  of  Mr.  Clay  on  this 
occasion.  I  need  not  trouble  the  reader  with  the  reasons 
which,  at  this  time,  are  quite  apparent,  why,  Mr.  Crawford 
being  out  of  the  question,  Mr.  Clay,  in  accordance  with 
his  previously  declared  political  principles  arid  future  pros 
pects,  felt  it  his  duty  to  support  Mr.  Adams.  But  the  po 
sition  of  the  two  gentlemen  having  before  been  notoriously 
adverse,  an  outcry  was  raised  and  promulgated  in  every 
part  of  the  United  States,  that  a  corrupt  "  bargain"  had  been 
made  between  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Clay,  and  that  the 
latter  had  sold  himself  "  for  a  consideration"  to  the  former. 
When,  after  the  election,  Mr.  Adams  appointed  Mr.  Clay 
Secretary  of  State,  that  appointment  was  declared,  by  the 
opponents  of  Mr.  Adams,  to  have  been  made  in  considera- 


HENRY    CLAY    AND    J.  Q.  ADAMS.  157 

tion  of  the  support  given  by  Mr.  Clay  to  Mr.  Adams,  and 
in  pursuance  of  the  bargain. 

I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  this  charge  against  Mr. 
Clay  and  Mr.  Adams,  of  a  corrupt  bargain,  will  not  be 
sustained  by  impartial  history  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that 
it  will  be  set  down  as  originating  in  an  inference  from  the 
relations  which  had  shortly  before  existed  between  the 
two  gentlemen,  made  by  overheated,  and,  perhaps,  dis 
honest  partisans. 

Mr.  Clay  had  been  a  senator  of  the  United  States — he 
had  also  long  been  Speaker  and  a  leader  of  the  democratic 
party  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  had  success 
fully  executed  an  important  foreign  mission.  He  was 
confessedly  possessed  of  distinguished  talents,  and  a  great 
political  tactician.  While,  therefore,  these  good  and  justi 
fiable  reasons  existed  for  making  the  appointment,  is  it  not 
uncharitable,  is  it  not  unjust,  to  assign  for  its  causes  cor 
rupt  motives  ? 

My  impressions,  in  respect  to  this  transaction,  are 
strengthened  by  a  recollection  of  the  following  facts  : 

Soon  after  Mr.  Adams  was  elected,  he  addressed  a  note 
to  Mr.  Clay,  offering  him  the  State  Department.  He 
hesitated,  and  doubted  whether  he  ought  to  accept  the  place, 
and  finally  called  together  the  members  of  Congress,  who 
were  friendly  to  him,  and  other  intelligent  friends,  and 
submitted  the  question  to  them,  declaring  that,  he  would 
be  governed  by  their  advice.  My  friend  Thornton,  who 
was  a  Clay-man,  happened  at  that  time  to  be  in  Wash 
ington,  and  was  present  at  that  caucus.  He  told  me  that 
Mr.  Clay,  on  that  occasion,  stated  to  his  friends  his  objec 
tions  to  the  acceptance  of  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State. 

"  He  stated,"  said  Thornton,  "  that,  in  his  judgment,  he 
could  exercise  more  political  influence  in  the  nation,  as 


158  CLAY    AND    ADAMS. 

Speaker  of  the  House,  than  as  head  of  the  State  Depart 
ment  ;  and  that  his  acceptance  would,  by  his  enemies,  be 
represented  as  proof,  and  as  the  consummation  of  the  al 
leged  bargain  with  Mr.  Adams. 

"  Col.  MJ Arthur,  afterwards  governor  of  Ohio,  con 
curred  with  Mr.  Clay,  and  thought  his  acceptance  of  the 
proffered  office  would  be  inexpedient ;  but  nearly,  if  not 
quite  all  the  others,  and  there  were  in  that  caucus  distin 
guished  men  from  every  state  in  the  Union,  urged  that 
those  who  were  knavish  enough  to  circulate  the  report  of 
the  bargain,  or  silly  enough  to  believe  it,  would  insist  that 
the  offer  of  the  State  Department  was  proof  of  the  previous 
corrupt  agreement,  and  that  a  refusal  to  accept  would  be 
represented  as  a  cowardly  attempt  to  evade  the  conse 
quence  of  the  bargain,  and  an  admission  of  guilt ; — that 
Mr.  Adams,  by  reason  of  his  retired  habits,  had  little  per 
sonal  knowledge  of  the  merits,  characters,  and  influence 
of  the  active  politicians  in  the  various  parts  of  the  Union  ; 
whereas,  Mr.  Clay's  knowledge  on  that  subject  was  mi 
nute  and  universal ;  that  his  tact,  address,  and  skill,  and 
his  knowledge  of  men,  rendered  it  indispensable  that  he 
should  compose  a  part,  of  the  administration  ;  and  finally, 
that  his  friends  anxiously  desired,  and  their  interest 
eminently  required,  that  he  should  be  a  leading  member 
in  it. 

"  I  do  assure  you,"  continued  Thornton,  "  that  Mr.  Clay 
yielded  to  the  importunity  of  his  friends,  apparently  against 
his  own  judgment,  and  with  great  reluctance." 

It  is  my  duty  to  add,  that  individuals  are  now  living 
who  were  present  at  that  caucus. 

Many  persons  believed,  or  affected  to  believe,  that  Mr. 
Adams  was  a  profound  intriguer,  that  he  was  a  deep 
plotter,  &c.,  which  in  truth  was  the  very  reverse  of  his 


WASHINGTON    THEATRE.  159 

character.  He  did  not,  in  fact,  yield  enough  to  considera 
tions  of  expediency  to  be  a  successful  leader  of  any  politi 
cal  party  in  the  United  States.  But  because,  owing  to  a 
combination  of  fortuitous  circumstances,  and  the  address 
and  influence  of  Mr.  Clay,  he  obtained  the  election,  su 
perficial  politicians  considered  him,  and  even  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  for  a  time,  affected  to  consider  him  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  pupils  of  Machiavel.  In  confirmation 
of  this  I  must  be  allowed  to  relate  lhe  following  anecdote. 
The  evening  before  the  President  was  to  be  elected  by 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  when  it  was  morally 
certain  that  Mr.  Adams  would  be  the  successful  candidate, 
it  so  happened  that  General  Jackson,  Mr.  Adams,  Mr. 
Crawford,  Mr.  Clay,  and  many  other  distinguished  states 
men,  attended  the  theatre.  The  play  acted  was  Macbeth. 
The  part  of  Lady  Macbeth  was  performed  by  Mrs.  Barnes, 
— and  she  played  it  admirably.  She  pronounced  with 
great  emphasis  the  following  words,  addressed  by  Lady 
Macbeth  to  her  husband,  when  urging  him  to  murder  the 
good  king  Duncan — 

"  What  thou  wouldst  highly,  thou  wouldst  holily, 
Thou  wouldst  play  fair,  and  yet  wouldst  falsely  win." 

At  the  close  of  this  sentence  the  applause  of  the  audi 
ence,  as  well  those  in  the  boxes  as  in  the  pit,  was  loud 
and  long-continued.  I  was  present  at  this  exhibition,  and 
was  well  satisfied  that  the  principal  cause  of  the  clapping 
and  cheering  was  an  impression  of  some,  and  a  desire  to 
produce  the  impression  by  others,  that  these  words  were 
peculiarly  applicable  to  Mr.  Adams.  Some  persons,  and 
Thornton  among  others,  suspected  that  this  particular 
play  had  been  selected  by  the  managers  at  the  suggestion, 
secretly  made,  by  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Adams. 


160  THE    OLD    FEDERALISTS. 

The  predilections  of  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams  were  supposed 
to  be,  and  probably  were,  as  it  is  natural  they  should  have 
been,  in  favor  of  the  old  federal  party,  of  which  his  father 
was  a  distinguished  member  and  nominal  leader.  I  say 
nominal,  because  Alexander  Hamilton  was  the  real  leader 
of  the  Federalists.  From  reading  the  history  of  the  fed 
eral  party,  and  from  a  personal  acquaintance  with  elderly 
gentlemen  who  were  distinguished  members  of  it,  and 
especially  from  my  recollection  of  Colonel  Boyd,  whom  I 
consider  as  one  of  the  "  Last  of  the  Romans,"  I  am 
strongly  impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  leaders  of  that 
party  were  patriotic  men,  governed  by  high  and  honorable 
motives.  In  one  particular,  however,  in  my  judgment, 
they  erred,  and  that  error  was  fatal  to  their  success  as  a 
party — they  felt  too  little  respect  and  reverence  for  the 
mass  of  the  people.  This  want  of  respect  begat  in  them 
a  sentiment  bordering  on  contempt  for  the  opinion  of  the 
masses.  I  am  free  to  say  that  I  think  such  course  in  this 
country  was,  and  is,  not  only  impolitic,  but  radically 
wrong. 

Would  it  be  right  for  an  office-holder  under  the  Auto 
crat  of  Russia  to  endeavor  to  bring  into  contempt  his 
opinions  and  decrees,  and  render  odious  his  person  and 
authority  ?  If  a  subject  should  entertain  feelings  giving 
rise  to  such  sentiments  in  respect  to  his  sovereign,  ought 
he  not,  as  an  honest  man,  to  abjure  his  allegiance — or  at 
any  rate,  should  he  not  decline  all  official  employment  un 
der  a  monarch  in  whose  judgment  he  could  not  confide, 
and  whose  sagacity  and  understanding  he  despised  ? 
Would  a  courtier,  who  was  seeking  promotion  from  the 
jSultan  of  Turkey,  deem  it  proper  to  indulge  in^open  and 
public  declarations  derogatory  to  the  talents,  intelligence, 
and  character  of  his  royal  master,  whom  he  well  knew 


THE    OLD    FEDERALISTS.  161 

was  the  fountain  of  all  honor,  and  the  sovereign  dispenser 
of  all  political  favors  ?  Now,  in  America,  the  PEOPLE  are 
the  sovereigns  ;  they,  and  they  only,  exercise  all  the  sove 
reign  authority  recognised  in  the  nation  ;  and  from  them 
all  honors  and  official  emoluments,  directly  or  indirectly, 
proceed.  Is  it  then  wise,  or  indeed  is  it  right,  for  the 
citizen  who  solicits  their  confidence,  to  abuse  and  traduce 
them  ?  Ought  the  creature  to  claim  to  be  purer  and 
greater  than  the  creator?  According  to  the  theory  of  the 
British  constitution,  the  king  is  supposed  to  be  the  foun 
tain  of  justice  and  honor,  and  therefore  the  maxim,  that 
"  the  king  can  do  no  wrong,"  although  admitted  to  be  fic 
titious,  and  actually  untrue,  is,  nevertheless,  highly  con 
servative  in  its  tendency.  So,  in  the  United  States,  it 
should  be  held,  at  least  in  theory,  that  the  majority  of  the 
people  at  the  polls  of  the  election  can  do  no  wrong.  When 
the  people  speak  through  the  ballot-boxes,  the  maxim 
"  Vox  populi  vox  Dez"  should  be  held  strictly  applicable. 
By  this,  I  do  not  mean  to  say,  that  the  citizen  who  dif 
fers  in  opinion  from  the  majority  should  be  restrained 
from  publicly  expressing  that  opinion.  Far  from  it.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  inestimable  rights,  and  the  highest  and 
most  sacred  duty  of  the  citizen,  when  he  thinks  the  ma 
jority  of  the  people  have  misjudged,  to  endeavor  to  con 
vince  that  majority,  or  a  portion  of  it,  that  they  have 
decided  wrong ;  but  this  should  be  done,  not  by  charging 
that  the  majority  have  acted  corruptly,  or  that  they  are 
incapable  of  judiciously  deciding  the  matter  submitted  to 
them  ;  on  the  contrary,  his  arguments  should  be  founded 
on  the  assumption  that  they  are  capable  of  deciding  wisely, 
and  that  they  have  intended  to  act  for  the  best  interest 
of  the  country,  but  that  they  have  been  misadvised  and 
misled  by  false  information.  As  the  errors  of  the  king 

11 


162  MR.  RANDOLPH'S  MOTION. 

of  England  are  supposed  not  to  be  his,  but  those  of  his 
ministers  ;  so  the  errors  committed  by  a  majority  of  the 
people  at  the  elections,  should  be  considered  as  having 
been  committed  by  individuals  who  have  misinformed 
and  misled  them. 

For  more  than  two  thousand  years  the  stern  virtues  of 
Coriolanus  have  been  a  theme  for  the  applause  of  the 
historian  ;  but  with  all  due  deference,  I  must  be  permit 
ted  to  say,  that  ]  cannot  perceive  with  what  propriety 
he  could  challenge  the  support  of  the  Roman  people 
while  he  was  in  the  daily  practice  of  abusing  and  tra 
ducing  that  very  people.  I  do  not  say  that  he  deserved 
to  have  been  thrown  from  the  Tarpeian  rock  ;  but  I  do 
say,  that  the  people  were  right  in  repudiating  the  man 
who  sought  every  occasion  to  denounce  them  to  the 
Roman  senate,  and  to  the  world,  as  unworthy  to  be 
trusted,  and  as  debased  and  contemptible. 


CHAPTER  XL 

John  Randolph's  motion  to  suppress  the  Slave-trade  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia — Case  of  Gilbert  Horton — Meeting  in  Westchester  County — 
Character  of  the  Hon.  William  Jay — Proceedings  in  Congress  in  conse 
quence  of  the  Imprisonment  of  Gilbert  Horton. 

I  THINK  it  was  during  the  short  session  of  1817,  that 
John  Randolph  introduced  a  resolution  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  requiring  the  committee  on  the  District 
of  Columbia  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  suppressing 
by  law  the  slave-trade  in  that  district.  Mr.  Randolph, 
during  the  whole  of  his  long  congressional  career,  was  a 


ARREST    OF    FREE    CITIZENS.  163 

zealous  advocate  for  the  slaveholding  states,  and  for  slave- 
holding.  It  was  not  until  the  near  approach  of  death 
that  he,  either  from  a  regard  to  his  posthumous  fame, 
or  impelled  by  a  sense  of  his  duty  to  God  and  man, 
or  from  both  these  causes,  came  to  the  conclusion  to 
liberate  his  own  slaves,  of  whom  he  held  many,  and  he 
did,  by  his  last  will  and  testament,  emancipate  them.  On 
offering  the  resolution  to  which  I  have  alluded,  Mr.  Ran 
dolph,  with  unsurpassed  eloquence,  depicted  the  horrors 
of  that  dreadful  traffic  in  human  beings,  carried  on  at  the 
seat  of  government,  and  under  the  immediate  eye  of  the 
representatives  of  a  people  claiming  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  people  of  all  other  nations  for  their  love  of  free 
dom.  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  that  speech,  and 
never  were  my  feelings  more  highly  excited  than  on  that 
occasion.  Although  I  have  not  seen  Mr.  Randolph's 
speech  in  print,  I  have  no  doubt  the  report  of  it  may  be 
found  by  examining  the  files  of  the  National  Intelligencer. 
I  ought,  however,  to  add,  that  no  reporter  could  do  justice 
to  that  potent  but  eccentric  orator. 

The  city  of  Washington,  nevertheless,  continues  to  be 
a  common  place  of  meeting  of  the  negro  speculators  of 
the  adjoining  states,  for  the  purpose  of  buying  and  selling 
slaves.  But  there  is  another  practice  which  prevails 
there,  and  which  is,  if  possible,  a  greater  outrage  upon 
humanity,  and  is,  besides,  a  most  palpable  violation  of 
constitutional  law.  When  a  colored  man,  either  on  ac 
count  of  business  or  for  pleasure,  visits  the  capital  of  his 
country,  unless  he  has  in  his  possession  evidence  that  he 
is  a  free  man,  he  is  liable  to  be  arrested  and  thrown  into  jail, 
where,  after  he  remains  for  a  certain  period  of  time,  he  is 
sold  as  a  slave  by  the  sheriff,  for  the  fees  of  arresting  and 
keeping  him  in  prison.  By  this  law,  every  man,  whose 


164  CASE    OF    GILBERT    HORTON. 

skin  is  not  white,  is  presumed  to  be  guilty  of  being  a 
slave.  If  it  turns  out  that  he  is  a  slave,  he  is  delivered  to 
his  master  ;  and  if  he  is  a  free  man,  he  is  sold  as  a  slave 
to  defray  the  expense  of  this  confessedly  unjust  attack  by 
the  public  upon  his  personal  liberty.  I  doubt  whether  a 
law  which  sanctions  so  flagrant  an  outrage  on  human 
rights  can  be  found  in  the  code  of  any  other  civilized  na 
tion  on  earth.  It  reminds  one  of  the  ordeal  by  which 
witches  were  tried  in  ages  long  since  past ;  if  the  accused 
floated  on  the  water,  she  was  to  be  hanged  for  witch 
craft — if  she  sunk  and  drowned,  she  was  adjudged  to  be 
innocent.  The  free  states,  to  their  eternal  disgrace,  have 
submitted  to  this  treatment  of  their  citizens  generally 
without  resistance,  and  with  philosophical  resignation.  It 
however  gives  me  pleasure  to  refer  to  one  case,  which 
occurred  in  the  year  1826,  when  the  arrest  of  a  free  col 
ored  man,  in  the  city  of  Washington,  was  noticed  by  the 
executive  and  citizens  of  one  of  the  states  of  the  Union  in 
a  proper  spirit,  and  in  consequence  of  such  interference, 
the  intended  victim  was  restored  to  his  liberty.  I  shall 
state  this  case  with  some  particularity,  and  in  connection 
with  it  I  will  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  action  of  Congress 
on  the  rights  of  free  blacks  and  the  emancipation  of  slaves 
in  the  federal  city,  over  which  the  national  legislature, 
by  the  American  constitution,  holds  exclusive  jurisdic 
tion. 

A  free  colored  citizen,  of  the  county  of  Westchester, 
in /the  state  of  New  York,  named  Gilbert  Horton,  was 
employed  as  a  sailor  on  board  a  coasting-vessel,  which 
touched  at  a  port  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Horton 
went  on  shore,  and  while  peaceably  walking  in  one  of  the 
streets  of  the  city  of  Washington,  was  seized  and  thrown 
into  jail  as  a  fugitive  slave.  After  he  had  been  in  jail  a 


CASE    OF    GILBERT    HORTON.  165 

month,  the  following  notice  appeared  in  the  National  In 
telligencer,  under  the  date  of  August  1,  1826  : 

"  Was  committed  to  the  jail  of  Washington  County, 
District  of  Columbia,  on  the  2d  of  July  last,  as  a  run 
away,  a  NEGRO  MAN,  by  the  name  of  GILBERT  HORTON. 
He  is  five  feet  four  inches  high,  stout  made  ;  has  large  full 
eyes,  and  a  scar  on  his  left  arm  near  the  elbow.  Had  on 
when  committed,  a  tarpaulin  hat,  linen  shirt,  blue  cloth 
jacket  and  trousers ;  says  that  he  was  born  free,  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  near  PeekskilL  The  owner  or  own 
ers  of  the  above  described  negro,  if  any,  are  requested  to 
come  and  prove  him  and  take  him  away,  OR  HE  WILL  BE 
SOLD  for  his  jail  fees  and  other  expenses,  as  the  law 
directs. 

"  RICHARD  BURR,  for 

"  TENCH  RINGOLD,  Marshal" 

This  advertisement  happened  to  meet  the  eye  of  the 
HON.  WILLIAM  JAY,  of  Westchester  county,  a  son  of  the 
celebrated  Governor  John  Jay.  Judge  Jay  is  a  man  of 
wealth,  of  eminent  literary  attainments,  imbued  from  his 
cradle  with  a  sacred  regard  for  human  rights,  of  most  ar 
dent  benevolence,  and  endowed  with  talents  of  the  highest 
order,  as  is  demonstrated  by  his  writings,  with  which  the 
public  are  now  familiar.  Disgusted  with  the  low  arts  of 
demagogues,  and  the  narrow  selfishness  and  the  insinceri 
ty  and  trickery  of  politicians — though  always  personally 
popular,  and  though  to  his  own  individual  merits  were 
added  the  fame  and  reputation  conferred  on  him  by  his 
venerable  father — he  has  refused  to  take  any  active  part  in 
the  party  contests  in  the  nation,  or  his  own  state.  I 
know  him  well,  and  I  religiously  believe  that  no  mere 
personal  corisfderations — nolhing  but  an  imperious  sense 


166  CASE    OF    GILBERT    HORTON. 

of  public  duty,  would  draw  him  from  his  retirement,  or 
induce  him  to  accept  of  the  highest  office  within  the  gift 
of  the  people  of  his  state  or  the  nation.  But  he  never 
fails  to  obey  the  calls  of  humanity,  and  in  defence  of  hu 
man  rights  he  is  always  active  and  energetic.  Upon 
seeing  this  notice,  Judge  Jay  took  immediate  measures  to 
procure  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Westchester  county. 
This  meeting,  of  which  Mr.  Jay  was  secretary,  after  re 
citing  the  story  of  Horlon,  and  that  he  was  about  to  be 
sold  as  a  slave  to  pay  the  jailer's  fees,  "  as  the  LAW  di 
rected,"  among  other  things, 

"Resolved,  That  the  secretary  is  hereby  desired  to 
transmit  to  his  excellency  the  governor,  the  evidence  above 
referred  to,  and  in  the  name  of  this  meeting  to  request 
his  excellency  to  demand  from  the  proper  authorities  the 
instant  liberation  of  said  Horton,  as  a  free  citizen  of  the 
state  of  New  York. 

"  Resolved,  That  by  the  fourth  article  of  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  the  citizens  of  each  state  are 
entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  of 
the  several  states,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  state  of 
New  York  to  protect  its  citizens  in  the  enjoyment  of 
this  constitutional  right,  without  regard  to  their  com 
plexions. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  law  under  which  Horton  has 
been  imprisoned,  arid  by  which  a  free  citizen  without 
evidence  of  crime,  and  without  trial  by  jury,  may  be  con 
demned  to  servitude  for  life,  is  repugnant  to  our  re 
publican  institutions,  and  revolting  to  justice  and  humani 
ty ;  and  that  the  representatives  from  this  state  in  Congress 
are  hereby  requested  to  use  their  endeavors  to  procure  its 
repeal." 

These  resolutions  were  forwarded  to  Governor  Clinton, 


CASE    OF    GILBERT    HORTON.  167 

who  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Mr.  Adams,  then 
president  of  the  United  States. 

Albany,  \th  Sept.,  1826. 
"  To  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
"•SIR:— 

"I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  copies  of  the  proceedings 
of  a  respectable  meeting  in  Westchester  county,  in  this 
state,  and  an  affidavit  of  John  Owen,  from  which  it  ap 
pears  that  one  Gilbert  Horton,  a  free  man  of  color,  and 
a  citizen  of  this  state,  is  unlawfully  imprisoned  in  the 
jail  of  the  city  of  Washington,  and  is  advertised  to  be 
sold  by  the  marshal  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

"  From  whatever  authority  a  law  authorizing  such  pro 
ceedings  has  emanated,  whether  from  the  municipality  of 
Washington,  the  legislature  of  Maryland,  or  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  it  is  at  least  void  and  unconstitu 
tional  in  its  application  to  a  citizen,  and  could  never 
have  been  intended  to  extend  further  than  to  fugitive 
slaves. 

"  As  the  District  of  Columbia  is  under  the  exclusive 
control  of  the  national  government,  I  conceive  it  my  duty 
to  apply  to  you  for  the  liberation  of  Gilbert  Horton  as  a 
free  man  and  a  citizen,  and  I  feel  persuaded  that  this  re 
quest  will  be  followed  by  immediate  relief. 
"  I  have  the  honor,  &c., 

"DE  WITT  CLINTON." 

In  reply  to  the  above,  the  governor  was  informed  from 
the  State  Department,  that  before  this  letter  was  received, 
the  marshal,  having  become  satisfied  that  Horton  was  a 
free  man,  had  liberated  him.  The  truth  probably  was, 


168  CASE    OF    GILBERT    NORTON. 

that  the  marshal  had  notice  of  the  proceedings  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  and  knowing,  what  was  generally 
well  known,  that  DE  WITT  CLINTON  was  not  a  man 
to  he  trifled  with,  and  that  he  would  at  any  hazard  main 
tain  and  defend  the  rights  of  his  own  state,  and  every 
citizen  of  it,  with  firmness,  and  with  a  perseverance 
which  could  not  be  evaded  or  eluded,  preferred  the  im 
mediate  liberation  of  Horton,  by  what  might  seem  to  be 
a  voluntary  act,  to  a  compulsory  discharge  in  pursuance 
of  a  requisition  from  the  governor  of  a  free  state. 

Judge  Jay  did  not  stop  here.  He  drew  a  petition, 
which  was  signed  generally  by  the  people  of  Westchester 
county,  in  which  was  exhibited,  in  bold  relief,  the  ab 
surdity,  injustice,  and  unconstitutionality  of  the  law  under 
which  Horton  had  been  imprisoned,  and  its  immediate 
repeal  was  demanded.  The  same  petition  earnestly 
urged  Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

To  show  how  the  grave  matters  which  this  petition 
brought  to  the  view  of  Congress  were  shuffled  off,  evi 
dently  by  the  consent  or  connivance  of  the  members  from 
the  free  states,  I  will  conclude  this  chapter  by  subjoining 
some  brief  notes,  furnished  me  by  a  friend,  of  the  action 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  relation  to  the  sub 
jects  embraced  in  the  petition.  The  accuracy  and  cor 
rectness  of  these  notes  will  appear  by  a  reference  to  the 
journals  of  Congress. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  > 
December  26,  1826.  \ 

AARON  WARD,  member  from  Westchester,  in  a  speech 
brought  the  case  of  Horton  before  the  House,  and  intro 
duced  the  following  resolution,  viz  : — 


CASE    OF    GILBERT    HORTON.  169 

"  Resolve^  That  the  comntittee  on  the  District  of 
Columbia  be  directed  to  inquire  whether  there  be  in 
force  in  said  District,  any  law  which  authorizes  the  im 
prisonment  of  any  free  man  of  color,  being  a  citizen  of 
any  of  the  United  States,  and  his  sale  as  an  unclaimed 
slave  for  jail  fees  and  other  charges  ;  and  if  so,  to  inquire 
into  the  expediency  of  repealing  the  same." 

Resolution  was  discussed,  and  a  motion  to  lay  on  the 
table  rejected. 

December  27. 

Discussion  on  Ward's  resolution  continued.  Motion  to 
lay  on  the  table  again  rejected.  Ayes  64,  Noes  90.  Mr. 
Ward,  by  request,  struck  from  his  resolution  the  words, 
"  being  a  citizen  of  any  of  the  states."  The  resolution, 
thus  modified,  passed  by  a  large  majority. 

January  11,  1827. 

The  committee  reported  in  full,  stating  the  law,  and 
the  apprehension  and  imprisonment  of  Horton  under  it, 
and  recommended  that  the  charges  of  imprisonment  be  in 
future  paid  by  the  corporation  of  Washington  county,  in 
stead  of  being,  as  now  directed  by  law,  to  be  defrayed 
from  the  sale  of  the  suspected,  but  unclaimed  fugitive. 

Soon  after  this  report,  the  corporation  of  Georgetown 
presented  a  remonstrance  against  the  passage  of  the  bill 
introduced  by  the  committee,  changing  the  mode  of 
defraying  the  charges  of  imprisoning  suspected  fugi 
tives. 

Mr.  Varnum*  introduced  another  bill,  making  the  cost 
of  imprisoning  suspected  fugitives  a  charge  on  the  United 
States  treasury  ! 


*  A  slave  of  the  south  from  Massachusetts. — Editor. 


170  CASE    OF    GILBERT    HORTON. 

No  bill  on  the  subject  was  passed. 

March  24,  1828. 

A  petition  signed  by  one  thousand  inhabitants  of  the 
District,  praying  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  it,  was 
presented  by  Mr.  Miner  to  the  House  of  Representa 
tives. 

January  9,  1829. 

The  House  of  Representatives  resolved,  by  a  vote  of 
120  to  59,  "  that  the  committee  for  the  District  of  Colum 
bia  be  instructed  to -lake  into  consideration  the  laws 
within  the  District  in  respect  to  slavery;  that  they  in 
quire  into  the  slave-trade  as  it  exists  in,  and  is  carried  on 
through  the  District,  and  that  they  report  to  the  House 
such  amendments  to  the  existing  laws  as  shall  seem  to 
them  to  be  just. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  committee  be  further  instructed 
to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  providing  by  law  for 
the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  within  the  District,  in 
such  manner  that  the  interests  of  no  individual  shall  be 
injured  thereby." 

January  29. 

The  committee  presented  a  thorough  pro-slavery  re 
port.  Denied  abuses  in  the  slave-trade,  and  protested 
against  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District,  but  recom 
mended  a  law  prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves  into 
the  District. 

No  action  in  consequence  of  the  report. 

January,  1829. 

Both  houses  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  desired 
their  representatives  in  Congress  to  endeavor  to  pro 
cure  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 


CASE    OF    GILBERT    HORTON.  171 

January,  1829. 

The  Assembly  of  New  York  passed  a  similar  res 
olution. 

1837. 

Legislature  of  Vermont  passed  resolutions  in  favor  of 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Legislature  of  Massachusetts  passed  a  similar  resolu 
tion.  In  the  Senate  unanimously,  in  the  lower  House, 
378  to  16. 

May  26,  1836. 

The  House  of  Representatives,  "  Resolved,  That  Con 
gress  ought  not  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia." 

Thus  ended  the  farce. 


172  DESTUCTION  OF  ANIMALS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Letter  from  Thornton  on  the  duty  of  man  towards  other  animals. 

I  MAY  as  well  in  this  place  as  in  any  other,  insert  a 
letter  which  I  received  from  Thornton  since  my  arrival 
in  England.  The  letter,  it  will  be  perceived,  treats  of  a 
subject  entirely  disconnected  from  that  contained  in  the 
preceding  chapter.  Thornton  is  constitutionally  one  of 
the  most  benevolent  men  I  ever  knew.  He  ardently 
desires  to  see  not  only  all  men,  but  all  animated  nature 
happy,  and  his  sensitive  mind  is  deeply  pained  when 
ever  and  wherever  he  sees  one  animal  voluntarily  inflict 
misery  on  another.  I  have  heard  him  say,  that  since  he 
was  twelve  years  old  he  has  never,  except  in  self-defence, 
caused  the  death  of  any  living  creature.  The  life  of  the 
most  insignificant  insect,  which  I  have  often  heard  him 
say  at  death  "  in  corporeal  sufferance  feels  a  pang  as 
great  as  when  a  giant  dies,"  has  uniformly  been  held 
sacred  by  him.  Perhaps  his  extreme  sympathy  may 
have  induced  him  to  denounce,  with  too  much  severity, 
indulgence  in  what  are  called  field-sports.  At  any  rate, 
his  views  are  in  advance  of  the  age.  The  time  may 
come  when  his  reasoning  will  be  more  justly  appreciated, 
and  more  generally  approved.  -  1; 

"New  YORK,  May  31,  1839. 

"  DEAR  MELBOURN  : — 

"  I  happened  a  day  or  two  ago  to  be  thinking  of  our 
ride  from  Washington  with  the  redoubtable  Captain  Puff, 


DESTRUCTION  OF  ANIMALS.  173 

and  of  my  conversation  with  the  excellent  Benjamin 
Lundy,  on  the  subject  of  the  duty  of  man  towards  other 
beings  possessed  of  animal  life,  when  a  train  of  reflec 
tion  occurred  to  me,  which  for  want  of  something  more 
interesting  I  now  forward  to  you. 

I. 

"  Man  has  no  right  to  deprive  another  animal  of  life, 
unless  in  his  own  defence  ;  or  unless  the  deprivation  of 
another  animal  of  life  becomes  necessary  for  the  susten 
ance  of  his  own  life. 

PROOF. 

"  1.  There  is  a  Supreme  Being  who  produced  and  gov 
erns  the  universe,  and  to  whom  all  other  beings  are  ac 
countable. 

"  2.  The  God  of  the  universe  is  a  being  of  perfect  be 
nevolence. 

"  3.  A  benevolent  being  must  of  necessity  desire  to 
cause  and  preserve  the  greatest  possible  quantum  of 
pleasure  or  happiness  in  the  universe. 

"  4.  Therefore,  God  must  necessarily  desire  man  to 
pursue  that  course  which  is  best  calculated  to  produce  in 
the  universe  the  greatest  possible  quantum  of  happiness. 

"  5.  It  follows  that  the  man  who,  so  far  as  his  actions 
depend  on  his  own  volition,  pursues  the  course  last  indi 
cated,  conducts  in  a  manner  most  pleasing  to  God.  It  is 
therefore  the  duty  of  man  to  pursue  such  course  ;  but  it 
would  be  right,  and  it  would  be  man's  duty  to  himself,  to 
pursue  that  same  course  if  there  were  no  God. 

"  6.  An  individual  human  being  has  no  right  to  attempt 
to  procure  his  own  happiness  by  preventing  other  beings 


174  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANIMALS. 

from  enjoying  happiness,  because  such  conduct  would  be 
in  violation  of  the  moral  law  of  God  ;  but  if  there  were 
no  God,  and  no  moral  law,  it  would  still  be  unwise  for 
man  to  seek  his  own  happiness  at  the  expense  of  the  hap 
piness  of  other  beings  ;  because  man  is  by  nature  a  be 
nevolent  being,  and  any  malevolent  act — though,  at  the 
moment,  the  doing  of  it  may  seem  to  afford  pleasure — will 
eventually  cause  pain.  A  single  recollection  of  the  les 
sons  taught  by  experience,  (the  safest  and  best  teacher,) 
will  convince  any  one  that  the  pain  thus  incurred  greatly 
overbalances  the  pleasure.  Besides,  the  attempt  to  de 
prive  another  of  the  enjoyment  of  happiness,  will  gener 
ally  produce  resistance  and  retaliation  ;  and  the  evils  and 
the  pain  which  will  result  to  the  person  making  the  at 
tempt,  will  overbalance  the  gratification  afforded  by  in 
dulging  his  morbid  propensity. 

"  7.  In  general,  the  enjoyment  or  happiness  of  a  living 
creature  is  in  the  aggregate  greater  than  the  misery  or 
pain  he  endures.  It  is  better  to  be  a  living  crea 
ture  than  a  stone  ;  for,  though  the  living  creature  occa 
sionally  suffers  pain,  the  pleasure  he  enjoys  overbalances 
the  pain  :  the  balance,  therefore,  is  in  favor  of  existence. 
Hence,  the  multiplication  of  living  creatures  in  the  uni 
verse  must  increase  the  quantum  of  happiness  in  the  uni 
verse  ;  and  the  destruction  and  diminution  of  lives  must 
diminish  that  quantum. 

"  From  all  these  propositions,  I  infer  the  truth  of  the 
general  proposition — 

"  '  That  man  has  no  right  to  deprive  another  animal  of 
life,  unless  in  his  own  defence  ;  or  unless  the  deprivation 
of  another  animal  of  life  becomes  necessary  for  the  sus 
tenance  of  his  own  life.' 

"Does  the  admission  of  the  truth  of  this  proposition 


DESTRUCTION    OF    ANIMALS.  175 

lead  to  a  prohibition  of  the  use  of  the  flesh  of  animals  by 
man  as  a  common  article  of  food  ? 

"  I  think  not. 

"  1.  The  consumption  of  the  flesh  of  other  animals  may 
be  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  human  species. 
A  principal  article  of  the  food  of  man,  both  savage  and 
civilized,  in  all  ages,  and  in  every  part  of  the  globe,  has 
been  and  is  the  flesh  of  other  animals.  Who  shall  say — 
who  can  say,  but  that  a  portion  of  this  sort  of  food  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  existence 
of  the  race  of  mankind  ? 

"  But,  waiving  this,  there  is  another  aspect  in  which  the 
question  may  be  viewed. 

"  2.  The  appetite  of  man  to  consume  the  flesh  of  other 
animals  induces  him  by  his  own  labor  to  provide  for  the 
sustenance  and  support  of  millions  of  animals  which,  so 
far  as  we  can  perceive,  could  not  otherwise  exist ;  and 
although  he  permits  himself,  after  some  of  those  animals 
have  lived  for  a  certain  period,  to  deprive  them  of  life, 
with  a  view  of  using  their  flesh  for  food,  this  practice 
tends  to  increase,  and  actually  does  increase,  the  number 
of  living  animals.  Thus  the  destruction  of  life  increases 
the  quantum  of  life  :  a  position  which,  though  apparently 
self-contradicted,  is  nevertheless  unquestionably  true. 

"  The  following  corollary  results  from  these  positions  : 
— that  man  may  rightfully  deprive  other  animals  of  life 
under  the  following  circumstances  and  in  the  following 
cases  : 

"  1.  When  man,  by  his  labor  and  industry,  has  caused 
the  existence  and  preserved  the  life  of  an  animal  whose 
flesh  is  agreeable  and  useful  for  food,  he  may  rightfully, 
when  his  comfort  or  convenience  requires  it,  deprive  that 
animal  of  life. 


176  DESTRUCTION    OF    ANIMALS. 

"  2.  Man  when  perishing  with  hunger  has  a  right,  if 
necessary  to  preserve  his  own  life,  to  kill  and  eat  the  flesh 
of  another  animal  (the  deer  for  instance)  whose  existence 
he  has  never  caused,  and  to  whose  support  he  has  never 
contributed.  This  right,  it  will  be  perceived,  rests  on  the 
ground  of  the  right  of  self-defence,  or  rather  self-preser 
vation. 

"  3.  Man  has  a  right  to  kill  and  destroy  all  other  ani 
mals  who  make  war  upon  him,  or  upon  his  properly,  or, 
more  philosophically  speaking,  the  avails  of  his  own  in 
dustry. 

"  4.  In  ALL  OTHER  CASES,  the  destruction  of  animal  life 
by  man  is  morally  wrong  ;  it  is  a  crime  against  nature  and 
against  God. 

II. 

"  Man  incurs  to  those  domestic  animals  which  render 
him  service,  or  which  supply  him  with  the  conveniences, 
comforts,  and  I  may  add  necessaries  of  life,  a  high  and 
sacredly  binding  moral  obligation. 

"  One  kind  of  obligation  recognised  by  metaphysicians 
and  moralists  is,  to  make  suitable  returns  for  favors  con 
ferred.  Now,  has  not  the  sheep,  whose  fleece  protects 
me  from  the  inclemency  of  the  elements — the  cow,  whose 
milk  nourishes  my  children  and  myself — the  ox,  which 
with  patient  and  persevering  labor  breaks  up  my  ground, 
and  prepares  it  for  the  production  of  bread-stuffs — and 
the  horse,  which  relieves  me  from  fatigue,  and  safely  and 
securely  and  pleasantly  transports  me  from  one  place  to 
another — conferred  on  me  favors  ? 

"  And  am  I  not  under  a  high  moral  obligation  to  do 
something  for  these  animals  in  return  ?  True,  I  furnish 
them  with  food,  and  sometimes  with  a  shelter  ;  but  these 


DESTRUCTION  OF  ANIMALS.  177 

conveniences  the  wild  horse  and  the  buffalo,  as  well  as 
other  animals  of  the  sheep,  cow,  and  horse  kind,  obtained 
before  they  were  enslaved  by  man,  without  human  aid. 
I  give  the  horse  food,  not  to  pay  him  a  debt,  but  to  enable 
him  to  perform  more  labor  for  me.  I  therefore  assume 
that  the  horse,  which  has  faithfully  served  me,  say  for  a 
dozen  years,  has  a  claim  on  me  to  support  him  comfortably 
in  his  decline  of  life,  and  after  he  shall  have  been  rendered, 
by  age  and  ill-health,  incapable  of  earning  any  thing  for 
me — a  claim  which,  although  he  cannot  enforce,  in  a  court 
of  law,  he  ought  to  enforce,  and  can  enforce,  in  a  court  of 
honor  and  conscience. 

"  That  it  is  the  duty  of  man  to  treat  all  other  animals 
kindly,  and  not  inflict  pain  upon  them  unnecessarily,  is  so 
obvious,  that  the  reader  who  can  see  enough  to  perceive 
any  of  the  boundaries  between  right  and  wrong,  would 
feel  insulted  were  I  to  occupy  one  moment  of  his  time 
in  offering  reasons  in  support  of  the  existence  of  such 
duty. 

"  I  then  assume,  as  proved — 

"  1.  That  man  palpably  violates  his  duty  when  he  per 
mits  himself  to  treat  other  animals  unkindly,  or  inflici.  on 
them  unnecessary  pain. 

"  2.  That  he  becomes  indebted  to  those  domestic  animals 
which  render  him  service,  or  which  yield  to,  and  furnish 
him  with,  the  luxuries,  comforts,  and  necessaries  of  hu 
man  life  ;  and  that  he  is  under  a  high  moral  obligation  to 
discharge  such  indebtedness  by  taking  care  of  those  ani 
mals  in  their  old  age,  and  by  procuring  ease  and  comfort 
for  them,  when  suffering  from  the  effects  of  disease  or 
wounds. 

"  3.  That  it  is  a  flagrant  violation  of  right,  and  a  sin 
against  God,  for  man  to  deprive  any  animal  of  life,  unless 

12 


178  DESTRUCTION  OF  ANIMALS. 

it  be  those  animals  whose  existence  he  may  be  said  to 
have  caused,  and  whose  lives  he  has  preserved  by  his  own 
labor  and  industry,  or  unless  their  flesh  becomes  abso 
lutely  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  his  own  life,  or 
unless  in  defence  of  his  own  property  or  life. 

"  If  these  positions  are  true — if  such  be  obviously  and 
incontestably  the  bounden  duty  of  man — how  shamelessly, 
how  outrageously  is  that  duty  violated,  not  only  by  the 
careless  and  reckless,  but  by  the  thoughtful,  careful,  and 
prudent;  not  only  by  the  griping  and  miserly,  but  the  be 
nevolent  and  charitable  ;  not  only  by  the  ignorant  and  vul 
gar,  but  by  the  learned  and  enlightened  philosopher ;  not 
only  by  the  impious  and  profane,  but  by  the  devout  and 
pious  !  Why,  one  can  scarcely  walk  into  the  streets,  or 
range  through  the  fields,  without  being  compelled  to  wit 
ness  the  infliction  of  some  unnecessary  and  wanton  cruelty 
upon  unoffending  and  uncomplaining  animals  by  the  tyrant 
man.  If  you  go  into  the  wild  forest,  which  has  been 
created  without  the  aid  of  man — which  has  been  enriched 
with  vegetable  life,  and  clothed  with  verdure,  without  his 
aid,  and  even  without  his  knowledge — you  will  there  find 
the  savage  man,  merely  for  his  amusement,  prowling 
around,  destroying  and  murdering  inoffensive  animals 
which  subsist  there  without  his  aid,  which  never  in  any 
respect  annoyed  or  disturbed  him,  and  which  have  been 
placed  there  by  the  benevolent  Creator  of  the  universe. 

"  There  are  many  species  of  brute  animals  which  prey 
on  each  other,  but  the  wars  of  these  animals  are  waged 
not  for  amusement,  but  for  self-defence,  or  self-preserva- 
liun.  Man  alone,  reasoning  man,  pious,  religious  man, 
(.iod-like  man,  makes  war  on  the  animal  creation,  tortures 
and  murders  them  for  his  own  amusement  and  pleasure  ! 
The  timid,  the  unoffending  deer,  which  never  did  him  the 


DESTRUCTION    OF    ANIMALS.  179 

least  possible  harm,  for  whose  support  he  never  in  any 
manner  contributed,  he  waylays  and  pursues  with  ferocious 
hounds  and  deadly  weapons  to  the  death,  and  then  boasts 
of  the  tortures  he  has  inflicted,  and  of  his  triumph. 

**  Man  is  the  most  savage  animal  that  walks  on  the  earth. 
Could  all  the  other  animals  which  inhabit  the  globe  meet 
in  convention  and  form  an  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive, 
for  the  utter  destruction  and  extirpation  of  the  human 
species,  it  would,  so  far  as  respects  the  conduct  of  man 
towards  other  animals,  be  a  '  holy  alliance' 

"  The  reckless  indifference  with  which  most  men  aban 
don  to  starvation  and  death  old  animals  of  the  horse  kind, 
which  have  served  them  long  and  faithfully,  is  disgraceful 
to  human  nature  itself.  '  Poor  old  horse,  let  him  die,  let 
him  die,'  is  the  only  elegy  that  is  pronounced  on  the  noble 
animal. 

"  I  am  now  sixty  years  old,  and  have  seen  something 
of  life,  and  I  declare,  in  the  sincerity  of  my  heart,  that  I 
have  seen  nothing  which  has  given  me  so  much  pain  as 
the  wanton  destruction  of  the  life  of  brute  animals  by  man, 
and  the  tyranny  and  cruelty  exercised  by  him  over  do 
mestic  animals.  I  cannot  choose  to  die  without  saying 
one  word  in  behalf  of  those  uncomplaining,  mute  and 
suffering  beings,  who  cannot  plead  for  themselves.  But 
what  avails  the  feeble  voice  of  one  individual  against  the 
shout  of  thousands  of  millions  of  my  fellow  men  ! 

"  I  would  fain  hope,  however,  that  in  some  future  age 
of  the  world  the  duly  of  man  towards  other  terrestrial 
beings  will  be  better  understood  and  more  faithfully  re 
garded.  Then  will  come  the  true  millennium  of  the  phi 
losopher  and  the  philosophical  Christian. 
"  Yours  truly, 

"T.  THORNTON." 


180  ABOLITIONISTS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Illiberality  of  the  Abolitionists — Annexation  of  Texas — Opposition  of  south 
ern  Politicians  to  the  acquisition  of  northern  Territory — Mr.  Madison — 
Strictures  on  the  mode  of  carrying  on  the  War  for  the  conquest  of  Can 
ada  in  1812 — Constitutional  Principles  of  southern  Politicians. 

LETTER    FROM    THORNTON. 

"  NEW  YORK,  April  4,  1845. 

"  MY  DEAR  MELBOURN  : — 

"  I  have  not  heard  from  you  for  the  last  three  months  ; 
what  has  become  of  you  ?  Have  you  lost  yourself  among 
the  battlements  and  monumental  ruins  of  the  old  castle 
of  the  king-maker;  or  have  you,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five, 
become  young  and  gay,  and  are  you  mingling  with  the 
fashionables  in  the  modern  Babylon,  who  change  day  into 
night,  and  night  into  day  ?  But  I  will  not  allow  either  the 
reveries  occasioned  by  the  view  of  the  monuments  of  an 
cient  times,  or  your  literary  pursuits,  or  even  the  fascina 
tions  of  gay  society,  to  cause  you  to  forget  your  old  friend. 

"  I  cannot  advise  you  of  any  thing  which  will  be  new 
to  you.  You  are  in  the  habit  of  daily  reading  the  New 
York  and  Washington  newspapers,  and  they  tell  you  of 
every  thing  which  transpires,  besides  many  things  which 
never  did  happen. 

"  With  respect  to  the  subject  in  which  I  know  you  feel 
the  deepest  interest,  the  success  of  the  Abolition  party  in 


ABOLITION    PRESIDENTIAL    CANDIDATE.  191 

this  country,  and  the  prospect  of  the  freedom  of  the  slave, 
I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  can  give  you  no  information  which 
will  afford  you  any  consolation. 

"  The  illiberality  and  prescriptive  policy  of  the  Liberty 
party,  which  you  and  I  have  often  lamented,  so  far  from 
being  ameliorated,  is  rather  increased.  I  cannot  say  that 
I  condemn  them  for  withholding  their  votes  at  the  last 
November  election  from  Mr.  Clay.  Considering  his 
course  on  the  Missouri  question,  and  his  more  recent 
avowal  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  that  slaves  are 
by  law  property,  and  that  whatever  the  law  makes  property 
is  property,  in  connection  with  his  second  and  third  letter 
on  the  annexation  of  Texas,  I  cannot  perceive  how  honest 
abolitionists  could  give  him  their  votes — and  with  still  less 
propriety  could  they  vote  for  Mr.  Polk  ;  nevertheless,  I 
think  the  selection  of  Mr.  Birney,  as  a  presidential  candi 
date,  was  injudicious.  Whatever  may  be  his  personal 
merits,  he  was  quite  unknown  in  the  nation  as  a  states 
man.  The  abolitionists,  I  think,  would  have  acted  more 
wisely  if  they  had  declined  voting  for  a  president  at  the 
last  election;  or  if,  in  their  judgment,  duty  or  policy  re 
quired  of  them  that  they  should  have  a  candidate  of  their 
own,  Governor  Slade  of  Vermont,  or  Judge  Jay  or  Gerrit 
Smith,  of  New  York,  would  have  commanded  a  much 
stronger  vote  than  Mr.  Birney.  What  is  the  most  unpar 
donable  in  the  Liberty  party,  because  it  is  suicidal,  is 
their  denunciation  of  such  men  as  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Giddings  of  Ohio,  Slade  of  Vermont,  &c.  ;  these  gentle 
men  are  as  good  abolitionists  as  were  Clarkson  and  Wilber- 
force.  There  are  liberal-minded  men  among  the  aboli 
tionists  of  New  York  and  Ohio,  but  as  a  party  they  seem 
to  be  under  the  government,  in  some  degree,  of  fanatical 
clergymen,  and  a  few  ambitious  political  aspirants,  who 


182  ANNEXATION    OF    TEXAS. 

vainly  hope  to  procure  advancement  by  the  course  they 
take.  One  would  sometimes  be  led  to  imagine  that  their 
policy  was  to  adopt  measures  with  the  intent  of  preventing 
men  of  influence  and  talents  from  joining  them.  They 
rigidly  enforce  the  rule  of  the  old  Mosaic  law,  which 
declares  if  you  are  guilty  of  a  breach  of  one  tittle  of  the 
law  you  are  guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  whole  law,  and  must 
be  punished  accordingly.  This  is  not  according  to  the- 
doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ.  When  some  of  his  disciples 
informed  him  that  they  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  his 
name,  and  they  forbid  him,  because  he  refused  to  follow 
them,  Christ  rebuked  them  for  it,  saying,  *  he  that  is 
not  for  us  is  against  us  ;'  whence  it  follows  that  he  that 
is  acting  with  us  cannot  be  against  us,  and  ought  not  to 
be  so  regarded.  These  immaculate  Liberty  party  men 
will  not  allow  Giddings  and  Slade  to  cast  out  devils, 
though  they  hold  the  same  doctrines  as  respects  human 
rights  as  the  most  rigid  abolitionist.  The  Liberty  party 
are  anxious,  sincerely  anxious,  that  the  slave  should  be 
liberated,  but  they  will  allow  none  but  themselves  to  break 
his  chain  and  open  his  prison  door. 

"  You  already  know  all  about  that  abominable  outrage 
upon  the  constitution  of  this  country,  upon  the  republic 
of  Mexico,  and  upon  the  rights  of  man,  which  has  been 
consummated  by  the  annexation  of  Texas.  You  know 
that  the  Texas  insurrection  in  1837  was  excited,  con 
ducted,  and  finally  effected  by  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  under  the  connivance,  if  not  secret  aid,  of  this 
government ;  you  know  that  the  real  cause  of  that  insur 
rection  was,  that  Mexico  refused  to  tolerate  human  sla 
very  ;  you  also  know  that  after  the  war  with  Mexico 
had  continued  for  some  time,  Mexico,  under  the  advise 
ment  of  Great  Britain  and  France,  finally  consented  to 


ANNEXATION    OF    TEXAS.  183 

acknowledge  the  independence  of  Texas,  provided  she 
would  abolish  slavery ;  that  Texas  was  about  to  accede  to 
this  proposition ;  that  for  the  express  purpose  of  PREVENT 
ING  THE  ABOLITION  OF  SLAVERY  IN  TEXAS,  CIS  aVOWed  by 

the  organs  of  the  American  government  (  Upshur  and  Cal- 
houn,  Secretaries  of  State*)  in  the  face  of  a  civilized  and 
Christian  ivorld,  and  for  the  purpose  of  extending  the 
area  of  slavery,  and  perpetuating  it.  in  the  slave  states 
of  the  Union,  we  robbed  a  sister  republic  of  her  territory 
— territory  which,  by  all  the  solemnities  of  treaty,  we 
had  repeatedly  acknowledged  to  be  hers.  Thus,  by  our 
own  acknowledgment  we  are  of  record,  robbers. 

"  The  south,  at  the  last  session,  before  they  introduced 
the  resolutions  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  caused  a  reso 
lution  to  be  proposed  in  favor  of  taking  possession  of  the 
territory  of  Oregon.  This  resolution  was  made  the  pio 
neer  of  that  for  the  annexation  of  Texas.  This  manoeu 
vre  was  resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  gulling  the  masses 
of  the  north  and  west.  I  say  the  masses,  because  any 
member  of  Congress  who  had  brains  enough  to  find  his 
way  to  the  Capitol,  must  have  known  it  was  a  gross  de 
ception.  In  due  time  the  Texas  resolution  shot  ahead  of 
its  pioneer,  and  the  Oregon  resolution  was  left  to  slumber 
among  the  rubbish  with  which  the  congressional  table  was 
loaded. 

"  Who  believes  that  there  will  ever  be  a  state  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  which  will  be  one  of  the  United  States  ? 
I  am  free  to  say,  I  do  not.  Time  will  show  whether  I  am 
right. 

"  In  the  first  place,  this,  or  any  other  southern  adminis- 

*  The  official  diplomatic  correspondence  of  these  gentlemen  justify  this 
assertion. — Editor. 


184  ACQUISITION    OF    NORTHERN    TERRITORY. 

tration, — and  there  is  little  probability  we  shall  ever  have 
any  other, — will  give  up  every  foot  of  land  in  Oregon, 
notwithstanding  the  town-meeting-speech  of  Mr.  Polk  at 
his  inauguration,  rather  than  engage  in  a  war  with  Great 
Britain.  By  the  way,  the  slaveholding  and  cotton-planting 
interest  of  the  south,  and  the  shipping  interest  of  the  east, 
will  forever  hereafter  prevent  a  war  with  Great  Britain, 
unless  the  conduct  of  the  latter  power  shall  be  so  outra 
geous  that  it  will  become  dangerous  to  resist  the  clamor 
of  the  grain-growing  states.  But  if  Great  Britain,  in  con 
sequence  of  liberal  concessions  of  commercial  privileges 
by  the  American  government,  shall  consent  to  give  us  a 
part  of  Oregon,*  the  south  will  encourage  the  formation  of 
an  independent  government  there,  and  they  will  succeed 
in  effecting  that  project.  I  have  no  time  to  argue  the 
question  whether  this  will  not  be  the  probable  result.  I 
leave  that  for  you  to  do. 

"  The  south  never  will  consent  to  the  acquisition  of  one 
foot  of  territory  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  And  I 
verily  believe,  that  if  Great  Britain  were  at  this  moment 
to  offer,  with  the  consent  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Canadas,  to  annex  that  territory,  it  would  be  resist 
ed  by  the  south,  at  the  hazard  of  a  division  of  the 
Union. 

"  All  reflecting  men  at  this  day  will,  I  presume,  admit 
that  during  the  last  war  Mr.  Madison  did  not  desire  the 
conquest  of  Canada.  One  reason,  no  doubt,  which  ope 
rated  on  his  mind,  was  the  difficulties  it  might  interpose 
in  a  negotiation  for  peace.  If  we  should  gain  possession, 
by  conquest,  of  the  territory,  he  apprehended  that,  the 


*  This  has  actually  taken  place,  as  Mr.  Thornton,  in  1845,  conjec 
tured. — Editor. 


CONQUEST    OF    CANADA    IN    1812.  185 

northern  slates  would  not  consent  to  surrender  it,  and  he 
justly  feared  that  Great  Britain  would  never  consent  to 
yield  up  any  portion  of  her  dominions  which  had  been 
wrested  from  her  by  force.  If  Mr.  Madison  had  not,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  war,  determined  against  the 
conquest  of  Canada,  how  is  it  possible  to  reconcile  his 
conduct  in  the  instance  I  am  about  to  state,  to  the  high 
reputation  he  always,  and  I  believe  justly,  sustained  for 
forecast  and  sagacity  ? 

"  The  war  was  declared  at  Washington,  in  June,  1812. 
At  that  time  the  British,  strictly  sp  dking,  had  no  naval 
force  on  Lake  Champlain.  Before  the  news  of  the  war 
could  reach  London,  Rouse's  Point  might  have  been  for 
tified,  the  Isle  Le  Noi  might  have  been  seized,  and  by  an 
expenditure  of  probably  less  than  $100,000,  a  naval  force 
might  have  been  constructed  and  put  afloat  on  Lake 
Champlain  sufficient  to  command  it ;  and  possession  might 
have  been  taken  of  St.  Johns  and  all  other  landing  places 
on  the  Canada  side  of  the  lake.  This  would  have  en 
abled  us  to  transport  the  whole  disposable  military  force 
of  the  nation,  together  with  provisions,  arms,  and  muni 
tions  of  war,  from  New  York,  Boston,  &c.,  by  steamboats, 
into  the  heart  of  Canada,  with  only  sixty  miles  land-car 
riage,  on  an  excellent  road,  between  Troy  and  Whitehall. 
The  control  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  the  possession  of 
St.  Johns,  must,  with  the  means  then  in  our  power,  have 
enabled  us  to  have  taken  possession  of  Montreal  before 
the  British  could  have  sent  aid  from  England.*  Upper 
Canada  must  then,  of  course,  have  fallen  into  our  hands, 
with  very  little  effort  or  expense  on  our  part.  Instead  of 

*  The  state  of  Vermont  could  have  furnished  a  force  sufficient  to  have 
marched  to  Montreal  and  taken  that  town. — Editor. 


186  ANNEXATION    OF    TEXAS. 

this,  the  government  expended  millions  and  millions  of 
money,  as  the  records  of  the  war  and  treasury  depart 
ments  will  show,  in  transporting  troops  and  munitions  of 
war  by  land  over  bad  roads  and  no  roads  at  all  (for  it  will 
be  recollected  our  canals  were  not  then  made)  to  Sackett's 
Harbor,  to  Buffalo,  to  Detroit,  and  other  points  bordering 
upon  the  sparsely  populated  and  unsettled  parts  of  Upper 
Canada.  Entering  it  as  we  did  at  these  extreme  points, 
and  with  small  detachments,  no  rational  man  could  enter 
tain  a  hope  of  making  a  conquest  of  the  country. 

"  The  palpable  violation  of  the  American  Constitution 
by  the  annexation  of  Texas,  is  deeply  to  be  deplored  by 
all  those  who  regard  and  desire  to  preserve  that  instru 
ment.  Although  you  are  in  a  foreign  country,  you  must 
have  thought  on  the  subject,  and  probably  more  than  I 
have  ;  but  the  process  of  reasoning  is  so  simple,  and  ?o 
obvious,  that  I  take  leave  to  put  it  on  paper. 

"  By  the  United  States  constitution  the  powers  not  ex 
pressly  granted,  are  in  terms  withheld.  There  is  no  grant 
of  power  to  the  general  government  to  acquire  foreign 
territory  and  make  it  a  part  of  the  United  States.  Texas 
was  not  only  foreign  territory,  but  was  actually  an  inde 
pendent  foreign  government,  by  our  own  recorded  ac 
knowledgment  ;  and  yet,  by  a  simple  resolution,  this 
foreign  government  was  made  a  part  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  easy  to  see,  that  on  the  same  principles  France,  or  the 
Empire  of.  Germany,  may  by  a  resolution  of  Congress  be 
annexed  to  the  United  States,  and  as  both  France  and 
Germany  each  have  a  greater  population  than  we,  Louis 
Philippe  or  the  Emperor  of  Germany  might  be  elected 
President  of  the  United  States.  And  this  flagrant  viola 
tion  of  the  constitution  was  committed,  and,  this  outrage 
was  perpetrated,  by  men  who  so  sacredly  regard  the  con- 


ANNEXATION    OF    TEXAS.  187 

stitution  that  they  cannot  vote  for  a  bank  charter,  notwith 
standing  the  constitution  imposes  on  Congress  the  duty 
of  regulating  the  currency  of  the  nation,  and  notwith 
standing  the  power  to  grant  such  charter  has  been  ad 
judged  to  be  in  Congress  by  three  preceding  national  legis 
latures,  by  two  or  more  Presidents,  and  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  who  by  that  very  constitution 
are  made  the  only  expounders  of  constitutional  law. 

"In  1824,  Van  Buren,  Forsyth,  Buchanan,  and  other 
distinguished  politicians,  who  then  acted  with  the  south 
ern  parly,  supported  with  great  ardor,  Crawford  for  presi 
dent,  and  Gallatin  for  vice-president,  who  were  the  open, 
avowed,  and  zealous  friends  of  the  United  States  Bank, 
as  a  constitutional  and  necessary  institution,  and  in  1832, 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  Forsyth,  &c.,  declared  'uncompromising 
hostility'  to  any  National  Bank,  principally  on  the  ground 
that  the  creation  of  moneyed  corporations  was  unconstitu 
tional.  But  the  constitution  in  1832,  was  the  same  as 
that  of  1824.  So,  ulso,  the  southern  politicians  in,  I  be 
lieve,  1808,  supported  and  urged  the  passage  of  a  law, 
laying  an  embargo  on  all  exportations,  to  continue  an  in 
definite  and  unlimited  time.  This  act  in  terms  annihi 
lated  foreign  commerce.  Yet  the  very  men  who  were 
the  authors  and  advocates  of  this  act,  or  rather  the  same 
class  of  politicians,  some  of  whom  are  the  same  men,  at 
the  present  day  contend  that  a  law  requiring  payment  of 
a  duty  of  30  or  40  per  cent,  on  foreign  broadcloth  is  un 
constitutional,  because,  although  it  does  not  annihilate,  it 
tends  to  diminish  commerce  ;  for  they  say  the  power 
'  to  regulate,'  does  not  authorize  Congress  for  any  pur 
pose  to  clog  or  discourage  commerce.  The  political 
conscience  of  a  politician  is  too  frequently  an  India-rub 
ber  conscience.  It  will  extend  or  contract  as  the  particular 


188  ANNEXATION    OF    TEXAS. 

case  may  require.  Forty  per  cent,  duty  on  cloth  is  un 
constitutional,  but  50  per  cent,  duty  on  a  pound  of  sugar 
is  perfectly  constitutional. — [See  Mr.  Calhoun's  letter  to 
the  sugar-planters  of  Louisiana.] 

"  In  the  case  of  Texas,  what  surprises  me  most,  is, 
that  the  northern  members  should  dare  to  vote  for  its  an 
nexation  with  the  right  of  slave  representation,  thereby 
making  a  new  contract,  by  which  the  slaveholders  in  the 
acquired  territory  are  entitled  to  a  property  representa 
tion  which  is  denied  to  their  own  constituents. 

"  It  is  literally  true,  that  my  representative  from  New 
York,  has  by  his  vote  granted  to  one  Texan  as  much 
political  power  in  two  branches  of  the  government,  as  is 
or  can  be  possessed  by  two  New  Yorkers.  In  excuse 
for  this  sacrifice — this  bartering  away  of  the  political 
power  of  his  principals, — he  says  to  us  he  has  done  this 
to  extend  the  area  of  freedom — by  securing  and  per 
petuating  human  slavery  in  Texas,  and  in  the  southern 
states ! 

"  The  annexation  of  Texas  has  effected  what,  you  may 
recollect,  I  predicted  to  our  friend,  Benjamin  Lundy, 
which  was,  that  the  slaveholding  states  would  ultimately 
obtain  a  majority  in  the  United  States  Senate.  They 
now  have  that  majority.  It  will  never  be  changed — no, 
NEVER. 

"  Speaking  in  reference  to  the  political  prospects  of 
my  country,  I  must  say,  my  dear  Melbourn,  that  '  I  am 
sick  of  this  vain  world.' 

"  Yours,  truly, 

"  TOBIAS  THORNTON. 

"Julius  Melbourn,  Esq." 


TARIFF    BILL    OF    1846.  189 


I 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Remarks  on  the  Act  entitled  "  An  Act  reducing  the  Duties  on  Imports," 
which  was  passed  at  the  first  Session  of  the  29th  Congress,  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1846 — in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Thornton. 

MANY  readers  may  consider  the  discussion  contained 
in  the  following  letter,  on  the  vexed  question  of  the 
tariff  laws  of  the  United  States,  as  dry  and  tedious ;  but 
as  the  subject  is  justly  regarded  both  here  and  in  America, 
as  one  of  great  importance,  and  as  Mr.  Thornton  has 
presented  some  novel,  and  in  my  judgment,  interesting 
views,  which  he  thinks  ought  to  have  a  controlling  influence 
on  the  future  legislation  of  the  American  republic,  I 
hope  I  shall  be  excused  for  inserting  them,  and  that  the 
reader  will  not  find  the  time  required  for  their  perusal 
altogether  misspent. 

"  NEW  YORK,  September  30,  1846. 

"  DEAR  MELBOURN  : — 

"  I  propose  to  submit  some  remarks  on  the  bill  which 
was  passed  near  the  close  of  the  last  session  of  Congress, 
repealing  the  tariff  law  enacted  in  1842.  The  bill  in 
question  not  only  repeals  the  then  existing  law,  but  estab 
lishes  a  new  tariff  of  duties.  It  is  founded  upon  the  last 
annual  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  adopts 
the  principles  contained  in  that  report.  The  leading  prin 
ciple  inculcated  by  the  Secretary  is,  that  duties  for  the 


190  TARIFF    BILL    OF    1846. 

PROTECTION  of  the  American  producer  and  manufacturer 
ought  to  be  abolished ;  that  the  doctrine  on  that  subject, 
which,  if  not  ever  since  the  organization  of  the  govern 
ment  and  General  Hamilton's  celebrated  report  on  domes 
tic  manufactures — at  least,  from  the  passage  of  the  tariff 
bill  of  1816,  has  been  considered  as  sound — has  been 
founded  upon  error,  and  ought  to  be  repudiated.  Indeed, 
the  advocates  of  the  new  tariff  bill,  in  both  houses  of 
Congress,  supported  it  as  a  revenue  bill  alone,  and 
avowed  in  their  speeches  that  the  principle  of  protec 
tion  ought  to  be,  and  in  effect  was,  by  that  bill,  aban 
doned. 

"That  the  tariff  of  1816  was  framed  with  an  express 
view  to  protection,  will,  I  trust,  be  admitted  by  every  per 
son  who  has  a  tolerable  acquaintance  with  the  history  of 
our  national  legislation  ;  as,  however,  the  truth  of  this 
assertion  may  be  doubted  by  some,  I  will  detain  you  a 
moment  for  the  purpose  of  stating,  that  during  the  war 
with  Great  Britain,  which  terminated  in  1815,  a  consider 
able  number  of  cotton  factories  had  been  established  in  the 
United  States.  The  Congress  of  1816  wished  to  protect 
those  establishments,  and  also  to  prevent  the  drain  of  spe 
cie  from  this  country,  which  the  purchase  of  foreign  fab 
rics  for  necessary  wearing  apparel  occasioned.  With  this 
view,  that  Congress,  by  the  tariff  of  1810,  levied  a  spe 
cific  duty  on  all  cotton  fabrics  brought  from  beyond  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  from  whence  coarse  cottons  were 
then  imported,  which  effectually  destroyed  that  trade,  and 
totally  excluded  from  the  American  market  the  cotton 
cloths  brought  from  that  region  of  the  globe.  This  duty 
was  not  laid  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  the  importation  of  the  foreign 
article,  and  thereby  diminishing  instead  of  increasing  the 


TARIFF    BILL    OF    1846.  191 

revenue.  Mr.  Calhoun,  at  that  time  chairman  of  the  Fi 
nance  Committee,  after  remarking  that  articles  imported 
from  south  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  could  not  be  ob 
tained  by  barter,  and  were  of  course  paid  for  principally 
in  specie,  an  operation  which  produced  a  fearful  balance 
of  trade  against  this  country,  said  in  his  place,  in  my  hear 
ing,  that  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  this  drain  of  specie, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  American  manufactures, 
he  was  for  wholly  excluding  the  importation  of  those 
coarse  cotton  fabrics,  and  therefore  should  vote  in  favor 
of  the  proposed  specific  duty.  Hence,  it  is  most  evident 
that  that  duty  was  not  imposed  for  the  purpose  of  increas 
ing  the  revenue  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  well  known 
that  the  inevitable  consequence  would  be  to  diminish  it. 
Other  duties,  such  as  the  tax  upon  imported  woollen  cloths, 
wool,  iron,  hemp,  sugar,  &c.,  &c.,  have  been  imposed, 
not,  indeed,  with  a  view  to  exclude  the  foreign  article, 
but  for  the  purpose  of  discouraging  its  importation, 
and  protecting  the  American  grower  and  manufac 
turer. 

"  By  the  passage  of  the  tariff  act  of  the  last  session,  all 
branches  of  the  government  have  abandoned  and  repudi 
ated  the  doctrine  that  '  protection  for  the  sake  of  protec 
tion'  ought  to  be  maintained  or  tolerated  by  our  tariff 
laws.  It  is  said  that  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  are  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  put  forth  in  Mr. 
Walker's  report ;  and  even  Mr.  Clay,  the  great  champion 
for  the  protecton  of  home  industry,  has  said  that  *  protec 
tion  for  the  sake  of  protection'  ought  no  longer  to  influ 
ence  the  enactment  of  our  impost  laws. 

"Without  discussing  the  question  whether  it  was  wise 
or  unwise  in  the  American  people  and  their  government 


192  TARIFF    BILL    OF    1846. 

to  abandon  the  principle  of  protection,  it  is  sufficient  for 
my  purpose  to  assume,  what  cannot  be  denied,  that  the 
principle  of  protection  is,  in  fact,  abandoned. 

"  In  justification  of  the  mode  of  taxation  adopted  by  the 
bill  in  question,  it  is  alleged  that  a  system  of  impost  du 
ties  levied  solely  with  a  view  to  revenue,  incidentally 
protects  the  American  grower  and  manufacturer.  This 
is  true  to  a  certain  extent ;  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  a  tariff  for  revenue  alone,  like  Mr.  Walker's  tariff, 
ought  always  to  be  so  framed  as  to  enable  the  foreign 
manufacturer  fairly  to  compete  with  the  American  ;  for  if 
the  duty  is  so  high  as  considerably  to  diminish  importa 
tion,  a  proper  regard  to  the  interest  of  the  revenue  will  of 
course  demand  a  reduction  of  the  duty.  Thus,  if  a  duty 
of  forty  per  cent,  on  imported  manufactured  hats  would 
enable  the  American  hatter,  beneficially  to  himself,  so  far 
to  supply  the  home  demand  as  that  no  more  hats  than  in 
value  will  amount  to  $100,000  can  annually  be  imported 
without  loss,  the  reduction  of  the  duty  to  twenty  per  cent, 
might  enable  the  foreign  hatter  so  successfully  to  com 
pete  in  our  market  with  his  brother  hatter  in  America,  as 
to  cause  an  annual  importation  of  hats  to  the  value  of 
$400,000.  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  in  the  one  case 
the  treasury  would  receive  $40,000,  in  the  other  $80,000, 
and  that  in  the  supposed  case  the  reduction  of  the  one 
half  doubles  the  amount  of  revenue  :  upon  the  same  prin 
ciple  which  in  the  supposed  case  would  require  the  re 
duction  of  the  duty  on  hats,  was  Mr.  Walker's  tariff  bill 
framed — at  any  rate,  to  be  consistent  with  his  avowed  prin 
ciples,  it  should  have  been  so  framed.  But  it  will  be 
perceived,  that  after  the  reduction  of  the  duty  on  hats 
from  40  to  20  per  cent.,  the  American  hatter  would,  in 


TARIFF    BILL    OF    1846.  193 

his  business,  slill  have  an  advantage  of  20  per  cent,  over 
the  foreign  manufacturer,  and  this  is  called  incidental  pro 
tection.  • 

"  Now,  admitting  that  thirty  millions  of  dollars  must  be 
annually  raised  to  defray  the  necessary  expenses  of  gov 
ernment,  it  is  conceded  that  if  that  tax  can  be  levied  equal 
ly,  or  indeed  in  a  manner  which  shall  approach  near  to 
equality,  and  still  afford  this  incidental  protection  to  our 
own  mechanics,  manufacturers,  and  producers,  that  mode 
of  taxation  ought  to  be  preferred. 

"  I  admit  that  I  have  heretofore  been  in  favor  of  pro 
tection  for  the  sake  of  protection.  While  the  British  ports 
were  closed  against  all  the  agricultural  productions  of  the 
grain-growing  states,  whose  population  constitutes  a  great 
majority  of  the  white  population  of  the  Union,  and  those 
states  produced  nothing  but  a  little  potash,  which  the 
English  would  receive  in  payment  for  their  manufactured 
articles,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  importation  of  neces 
sary  wearing  apparel,  &c.,  would  eventually  produce  so 
great  a  balance  of  trade  against  us  as  would  ensure  a 
drain  of  specie,  which  would  cripple  our  commercial 
operations  and  prostrate  our  credit ;  and  especially,  that 
the  credit  of  our  banking  institutions  would  be  ruined.  I 
also  believed  that,  if  our  manufacturing  institutions  could 
be  so  far  protected  as  to  draw  away  a  considerable  por 
tion  of  those  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  into  our 
factories,  those  employed  in  factories  would  require  to  be 
supplied  with  bread-stuffs  by  the  farmer,  and  that  a  do 
mestic  market  would  thus  be  created  which  would  ade 
quately  reward  the  labors  of  those  who  continued  in  the 
pursuit  of  agriculture.  But  the  late  repeal  of  the  British 
Corn-Laws  has  opened  to  us  the  principal  European  mar 
kets,  and  a  fair  competition  for  the  sale  of  our  butter, 

13 


194  TARIFF    BILL    OF    1646. 

cheese,  and  all  our  grains,  with  all  other  nations  in  the 
world.  If  the  last  advices  from  England  are  correct,  In 
dian  corn,  with  which  millions  of  acres  of  our  fields  are 
at  this  moment  richly  loaded,  can  be  sold  in  Liverpool  and 
London  for  one  dollar  per  bushel.  This  state  of  things 
changes  the  aspect  of  the  question,  and  I  own  I  begin  to 
doubt  whether  the  time  has  not  arrived  when  we  can, 
with  safety,  adopt  the  maxim  of  Adam  Smith,  that  a  na 
tion  ought  to  sell  where  it  can  sell  highest,  and  buy  where 
it  can  buy  cheapest  ;  and  thus  follow  the  advice  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  that  we  should  have  'our  workshops  in  Europe.' 
I  confess  I  am  now  inclined  to  believe  that  our  laborers 
would  act  wisely  if  they  would  devote  their  time  to  the  cul 
tivation  of  the  soil,  and  by  its  productions  pay  for  the  arti 
cles  manufactured  by  the  cheap  *  pauper  labor'  of  Europe. 

"  If  the  American  laborer  for  one  bushel  of  Indian  corn 
can  purchase  three  days'  labor  in  England  in  fabricating  his 
wearing  apparel,  is  it  not  wise  for  him  to  do  so  ?  But,  as 
I  have  before  stated,  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  the  ques 
tion  whether  protection  ought  or  ought  not  to  be  aban 
doned.  That  long-disputed  point  is  now  settled.  Pro 
tection  is  abandoned,  and,  assuming  such  to  be  the  fact, 
the  question  now  is,  whether  any  impost  duties  on  the  ne 
cessaries  of  life  ought  to  be  levied — and  that  is  the  ques 
tion  I  propose  to  discuss. 

"  It  is  alleged  by  the  secretary,  that  to  defray  the  ordi 
nary  expenses  of  the  government,  thirty  millions  must  in 
some  way  be  collected  by  a  tax  from  the  people  of  the 
United  States. 

"  While  I  admit,  as  I  have  above  admitted,  that  if  this 
thirty  millions  of  dollars  can  be  fairly  and  justly  levied  on 
the  people  by  duties  on  imported  articles,  so  as  inciden 
tally  to  protect  the  American  manufacturer,  grower,  and 


TARIFF    BILL    OF    1846.  195 

producer,  that  mode  of  taxation  ought  to  be  preferred  ;  I 
trust  every  fair-minded  and  candid  man  will  admit,  if 
I  can  show  that  a  system  of  taxation  by  impost  not  only 
operates  unequally  and  unjust  as  between  individuals  and 
as  between  different  sections  of  the  Union,  but  that  it  is 
grossly,  cruelly,  and  outrageously  both  unequal  and  un 
just,  that  in  sucli  case  the  practice  of  indirect  taxation 
ought  to  be  abolished,  and  that  of  direct  adopted.  I  ad 
mit  that  articles  of  luxury,  such,  for  instance,  as  spirituous 
liquors,  wines,  and  perhaps  some  articles  of  wearing  ap 
parel,  ought  to  be  taxed  :  it  will,  however,  be  found,  on 
examination,  that  the  sum  raised  from  mere  articles  of 
luxury  is  very  small,  when  compared  with  the  amount 
which  by  our  present  system  is  raised  by  a  tax  on  neces 
sary  wearing  apparel,  sugar,  iron,  salt,  and  other  neces 
saries  of  life.  Before  proceeding  to  state  specific  objec 
tions  against  impost  duties,  I  will  remind  you  of  one 
general  objection.  It  is  this  :  In  all  governments,  and 
especially  in  free  governments,  the  citizen  ought  to  know 
when,  and  how  much  he  pays  for  taxes.  Mr.  Lewis, 
Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee,  in  his  speech,  lately 
published,  says,  and  says  truly,  *  that  it  is  not  only  the 
people's  right,  but  the  very  essence  of  liberty,  that  they 
(the  people)  should  know  the  amount  of  taxes  they  are 
forced  to  pay  ;'  and  yet  the  very  bill  which  Mr.  Lewis 
reported,  and  the  passage  of  which  he  urged  in  this  speech, 
provides  for  the  collection  of  thirty  millions  of  dollars 
during  the  next  fiscal  year,  and  at  the  end  of  that  year  I 
will  venture,  without  the  fear  of  contradiction,  to  say,  that 
neither  Mr.  Lewis,  nor  any  other  man  in  the  United 
States,  will  be  able  to  tell  how  much  he  has  paid  in  taxes 
for  the  support  of  the  government.  Does  the  farmer 
know,  when  he  buys  iron  for  his  ploughshare,  or  the  me- 


196  TARIFF    BILL    OF    1846. 

chanic  who  buys  a  yard  of  broadcloth,  or  the  professional 
man  who  buys  a  pound  of  sugar  to  sweeten  his  coffee,  or 
the  working  girl  who  lays  out  the  avails  of  three  months' 
labor  in  a  muslin  dress,  how  much  they  respectively  pay 
in  taxes  to  the  government  when  they  make  those  pur 
chases  ?  According  to  Mr.  Lewis,  his  bill  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding,  this  objection  is  conclusive. 

"  But  waiving  this  objection,  I  affirm  that  indirect  taxa 
tion  is  grossly  unjust,  because  thereby  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States  are  compelled  to  pay  an  immense  amount 
of  money  which  never  reaches  the  national  treasury. 

"  You  will  not  fail  to  recollect,  that  all  the  branches  of 
the  government  and  Mr.  Clay  at  the  head  of  the  opposi 
tion,  agree  that  protection  for  protection's  sake  is  aban 
doned  ;  and  I  now  submit  another  proposition,  the  truth 
of  which  will  not  be  denied,  which  is,  that  the  CONSUMER 
of  the  goods  imported  pays  the  whole  of  the  thirty  mil 
lions  proposed  to  be  raised  by  the  impost  duties  :  this,  I 
hope,  you  will  constantly  bear  in  mind,  for  my  reasoning 
on  the  question  is  based  entirely  on  it.  We  must  not 
forget  that  the  man  who  buys  a  pound  of  brown  sugar  for 
nine  cents,  pays  a  tax  of  two  cents  and  seven  mills  ;  nor 
that  he  who  buys  a  yard  of  broadcloth  of  the  retailing 
merchant  pays  one  dollar,  or  more  or  less,  to  the  govern 
ment.  But  a  small  proportion,  however,  of  that  dollar 
passes  into  the  treasury  of  the  United  States.  We  all 
know  that  the  duty,  in  the  first  instance,  is  paid  by  the 
importer.  He  adds  the  amount  paid  for  duty  to  the  in 
voice  price,  and  then  charges  profits  on  the  whole  sum  ad 
vanced  by  him.  He  sells  to  the  jobber,  of  course,  at  a 
certain  profit.  The  jobber,  who  sells  to  the  country  mer 
chant,  charges  him  with  the  amount  thus  paid  to  the  im 
porter,  to  which  he  adds  his  profits  ;  and  the  retailing 


TARIFF    BILL    OF    1846-  197 

merchant  sells  to  the  consumer,  to  whom  he  charges  the 
amount  paid  by  him  to  the  jobber,  together  with  his  own 
profits.  Thus  it  is  obvious,  that  the  consumer  pays  not 
only  the  tax,  but  the  profits  of  the  importer,  jobber,  and 
retailer  on  the  outlay  made  by  the  importer  in  the  pay 
ment  of  the  tax,  upon  the  landing  of  the  goods.  To  make 
this  matter  more  plain,  I  will  suppose  an  importer  lands  in 
New  York  goods,  the  invoice  price  of  which,  at  Manchester, 
is  $  1 ,000  ;  on  these  goods  I  will  suppose  he  pays  a  duty  to 
the  government  of  25  per  ct. ;  when,  therefore,  the  importer 
unpacks  his  bale  of  goods  in  New  York,  he  has  paid  for  it, 
including  the  duty,  $1,250.  He  sells  this  bale  to  the 
jobber  at  a  profit,  say  of  10  per  cent.  The  jobber,  there 
fore,  pays  for  the  bale  $1,365.  He  again  sells  to  the  re 
tailer  at  a  profit  of  15  per  cent,  on  the  sum  advanced  by 
him.  The  retailer,  therefore,  pays  for  the  bale  $1,581  ; 
and  he  sells  to  the  consumer  at  an  advance  on  the  amount 
paid  by  him  of  25  per  cent.  :  so  that  the  consumer  pays 
for  this  same  bale  of  goods,  $1,976.  Thus,  for  the  sum 
of  $250,  paid  by  the  importer  into  the  U.  S.  Treasury, 
the  consumer  actually  pays  $395  31.  I  am  not  a  mer 
chant,  and  therefore  possess  no  actual  knowledge  of  the 
usual  profits  realized  in  trade.  I  may  have  stated  the 
gains  of  the  merchant  too  high,  and  I  may  have  stated 
them  too  low.  But  whether  I  have  stated  the  profits  ten 
or  fifteen  per  cent,  too  high  or  too  low,  can  make  no  dif 
ference  in  relation  to  the  principle  for  which  I  contend. 
Allowing,  then,  the  supposed  profits  of  the  merchant  to  be 
as  stated,  it  requires  but  a  slight  knowledge  of  arithmetic 
to  enable  you  to  satisfy  yourself,  that  in  paying  a  tax  of 
$30,000,000,  the  tax  payers,  that  is,  the  consumers,  ac 
tually  pay  $47,437,200;  or  in  other  words,  they  pay 
$17,437,200  which  never  reaches  the  treasury. 


198  TARIFF    BILL    OF    1846. 

"  Will  any  man  of  common  sense  say  that  this  is  a  ju 
dicious  and  fair  mode  of  taxation  ?  I  am  sure  he  will  not. 
But  this  is  only  a  part  of  the  case.  The  duty  on  the  im 
ported  article  enables  the  American  manufacturer  to  sell 
the  same  article,  manufactured  or  produced  by  him,  at  a 
price  as  much  higher  as  the  amount  of  duty  raises  the  im 
ported  article  above  the  price  it  could  be  sold  at  were  it 
admitted  free  of  cluty. 

"  I  was  told  a  few  days  ago  by  a  gentleman  who  for 
several  years  has  resided  at  Key  West,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Cuba,  that  sugar  could  be  manufactured  on  the  island 
of  Cuba  at  2^  cents  per  pound — that  is  to  say,  at  $2,50 
per  hundred  pounds.  If  it  were  admitted  duty  free,  I 
presume  it  could  be  imported  into  the  United  States,  and 
a  fair  profit  made  by  the  importer,  jobber,  and  retailer, 
and  be  sold  here  for  four  cents  per  pound.  Instead  of 
wrhich,  under  Mr.  Walker's  bill  of  reduced  duties  we 
shall,  I  presume,  be  required  to  pay  six  cents  per  pound ; 
that  is  to  say,  we  pay  four  cents  a  pound  for  the  sugar, 
and  two  cents  for  every  pound  to  the  sugar-grower  in 
Louisiana.  This  principle  applies  to  the  producers  of  iron 
and  hemp — to  the  salt  manufacturer,  and  more  especially 
to  the  manufacturer  of  woollen  and  cotton  cloths. 

"  I  am  wholly  ignorant  of  the  amount  of  goods  pro 
duced  and  manufactured  in  this  country,  on  which  we 
charge  a  duty  when  imported  from  abroad,  but  I  do  not 
think  it  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  at  least  one  half  of 
the  articles  consumed  are  of  American  growth  or  manu 
facture. 

"  I  will  suppose,  for  illustration,  that  the  dutiable  goods 
imported  the  year  ensuing,  will  amount  to  one  hundred 
millions  of  dollars.  Mr.  Lewris,  in  the  speech  to  which  I 
have  alluded,  calculates  that  the  average  of  the  duties  di- 


TARIFF    OF    1846.  199 

reeled  by  the  bill  under  consideration,  to  be  levied,  is  23^ 
per  cent.,  and  that  the  amount  which  will  be  received  into 
the  treasury  the  ensuing  year,  will  be  $23,886,657.  Of 
course  he  must  estimate  that  the  articles  imported  charge 
able  with  duty,  will  a  little  exceed  $100,000,000.  It  will, 
I  think,  be  a  liberal  allowance  to  concede  that  all  over 
$20,000,000  received  under  this  bill,  will  be  collected 
from  articles  of  luxury  imported,  which  it  is  conceded 
ought  to  be  taxed,  and  to  which  my  objection  does  not 
apply.  This,  however,  leaves  the  enormous  sum  of 
$20,000,000  to  be  paid  by  consumers  to  the  manufac 
turers.  To  this  sum  add  the  $17,437,200  paid  by  con 
sumers  on  imported  goods,  to  the  retailing  merchant,  for 
the  profits  charged  by  him,  together  with  the  jobber  and 
importer,  and  you  are  presented  with  the  fearful  amount 
of  $37,437,200,  paid  by  the  people  under  the  name  of 
taxes,  not  one  cent  of  which  goes  into  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States  !  Conceding,  then,  as  we  must,  that  pro 
tection  as  such  ought  to  be  abandoned,  and  I  ask  whether 
any  civilized  or  uncivilized  nation  under  the  canopy  of 
heaven  ever  submitted  to  such  a  system  of  taxation  ? 

"  You  \vill  perceive  that  my  argument  is  founded  on 
the  assumption  that  the  price  paid  by  the  consumer,  on 
»ny  given  article,  is  increased  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  duty  paid  on  such  article.  The  manufacturers,  how 
ever,  have  asserted,  and  for  aught  I  know  continue  to 
assert,  that  this  is  not  true,  and  that  a  high  duty  paid  on 
the  imported  article,  instead  of  raising  the  price,  actually 
reduces  it ;  because,  say  they,  the  American  manufac 
turer  will  furnish  the  article  so  that  it  can  be  sold  in  mar 
ket  for  a  less  sum  than  the  same  article,  if  imported  from 
abroad,  could  be  sold  for,  if  admitted  free  of  duty.  Acci 
dental  circumstances  may  have  occasionally  produced  a 


200  TARIFF    OF    184G. 

depression  in  the  prices  of  domestic  goods,  not  long  after 
a  high  duty  had  been  laid  on  imported  goods  of  the  same 
kind  ;  but  the  assertion  that  the  laying  of  a  high  duty  on 
the  importation  of  any  given  article,  as  for  instance,  a  duty 
of  forty  per  cent,  on  imported  hats,  will  not  raise  the  price 
of  hats  in  this  country,  is  too  absurd  to  require  refutation. 
If  a  high  duty  on  the  foreign  article  lessens  the  value  of 
goods  of  the  same  kind  fabricated  by  the  American  man 
ufacturer,  I  would  fain  know  of  him  why  he  clamors  for 
high  duties  ?  If  his  allegation  be  true,  the  duties  which 
he  calls  for  will  lessen  the  value  of  his  own  goods  on  hand. 
In  England  the  laborer  works  for  25  cents  per  day  ;  in 
America  he  receives  75  cents.  In  New  York,  money  or 
capital  is  worth  seven  per  cent,  per  annum  ;  in  England 
it  is  generally  worth  no  more  than  four  and  never  more 
than  five  per  cent,  per  annum.  These  two  simple  but 
undeniable  facts  tell  the  whole  story. 

"  I  have  endeavored  to  prove  that  a  revenue  raised 
by  impost  was  impolitic  and  unjust,  because,  by  that  mode 
of  taxation,  (the  tax-payer  being  the  consumer,)  in  the 
collection  of  a  tax  of  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  the  people 
of  the  United  States  were  compelled  to  pay  more  than 
thirty-seven  millions  of  dollars  which  never  reached  the 
national  treasury  ;  and  I  now  propose  to  show  that  this 
mode  of  taxation  is  grossly  unequal  and  unjust,  as  between 
individual  tax-payers. 

"  It  will,  I  presume,  be  conceded,  that  in  equity  and 
good  conscience  every  citizen  ought  to  contribute  or  pay 
towards  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  government  under 
which  he  lives,  according  to  his  pecuniary  ability,  and  in 
proportion  to  the  value  of  his  property  which  is  protected 
by  ihe  government.  This  principle  is  admitted  to  be 
equitable,  and  is  adopted  by  the  laws  of  every  state  in  the 


TARIFF    OF    18-16.  201 

Union.  If  the  value  of  real  and  personal  estate  in  the 
county  of  Washington  be  five  millions  of  dollars,  and  the 
money  required  to  be  raised  by  tax  in  the  county  be 
$25,000,  this  would  be  one  half  per  cent,  on  the  assessed 
value  of  each  citizen's  real  and  personal  estate.  There 
fore  A,  whose  property  is  worth  $10,000,  will  be  required 
to  pay,  as  his  portion  of  the  $25,000,  $50,  while  B,  whose 
property  is  assessed  at  $1000,  pays  but  $5.  It  may  be 
said  that  B's  personal  liberty  is  as  dear  to  him  as  the  per 
sonal  liberty  of  A  is  to  A,  and  therefore  B  ought  to  pay 
something  in  the  nature  of  a  poll-tax  for  the  protection  of 
the  rights  of  his  person.  But  it  has  been  held  in  this,  and 
most  if  not  all  the  other  states  in  the  Union,  that  the  time 
devoted  by  B  to  the  performance  of  military  duty,  which 
he  is  ten  times  less  able  to  spend  than  A,  should  be  con 
sidered  an  equivalent  for  a  poll-tax.  That  this  is  fair  arid 
equitable,  seems  now  to  be  conceded  by  every  right- 
minded  man. 

"  Assuming,  then,  that  every  citizen  ought  to  pay  towards 
the  expenses  of  the  government,  in  proportion  to  the  value 
of  his  property  which  is  protected  by  government,  I  pro 
ceed  to  inquire  whether  impost  duties  ought  to  be  sus 
tained  as  the  sole  means  of  defraying  the  expenses  of  the 
general  government ;  and  here  I  must  again  entreat  you 
to  recollect,  that  by  the  tariff  of  1846  the  doctrine  si  pro 
tection  for  the  sake  of  protection  is  repudiated  and  abol 
ished,  and  also,  that  a  tax  by  impost  is  every  dollar  of  it 
paid  by  the  consumer. 

"  To  show  that  the  impost  system  is  unequal  and  un 
just,  as  between  individuals,  it  is  only  necessary  to  reflect 
that  the  poor  man,  with  a  large  family  of  children,  con 
sumes  nearly  as  much  of  the  articles  which  are  taxed  as 
his  rich  neighbor  with  the  same  number  of  children ;  and 


202  TARIFF    OF    1846. 

in  the  proportion  which  he  consumes,  in  that  proportion 
he  pays  taxes  :  the  greater  part  of  revenue  raised  by  im 
post  being  collected  from  a  tax  on  the  necessaries  of  life, 
such  for  instance  as  imported  medicines,  salt,  iron,  cotton 
and  woollen  cloths,  &c.,  &c.  To  illustrate  my  views  on 
this  subject  more  clearly,  I  will  suppose  that  in  order  to 
raise  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  which  the  Secretary  of  the 
United  States  Treasury  thinks  will  be  necessary  to  defray 
the  annual  current  expenses  of  the  national  government, 
a  tax  of  one  mill  on  a  dollar  is  required  to  be  paid  on  the 
assessed  value  of  the  property  of  each  citizen  of  the  state 
of  New  York.  By  this  tax  $100,000  value  of  property 
would  pay  $100.  Now,  I  will  suppose  Mr.  R.  to  be 
worth  $98,000.  Again,  I  will  suppose  Mr.  C.,  an  indus 
trious,  respectable  farmer,  to  be  worth  $2000  only.  It  is 
obvious  that  of  the  $100  required  to  be  paid  on  the 
$100,000,  Mr.  R.  ought  to  pay  to  the  national  treasury, 
and  under  a  system  of  direct  taxation  would  be  required 
to  pay,  898,  and  Mr.  C.  $2,  and  in  this  way  the  $100  tax 
would  be  satisfied.  But  how  much  do  those  gentlemen 
actually  pay  according  to  the  impost  system  ? 

"  I  will  suppose  that  Mr.  R.'s  family  consists  of  six 
persons,  and  Mr.  C.'s  family  consists  of  twelve  persons. 
I  am  aware  that  Mr.  R.,  being  a  man  of  wealth,  consumes 
more  in  his  family  in  proportion  to  its  numbers  than 
Mr.  C.  does  in  his  ;  but  it  will  be,  I  conceive,  a  liberal 
allowance  to  assume  that  Mr.  C.'s  family  of  twelve  per 
sons  consumes  no  more  than  Mr.  R.'s  of  six.  Upon  this 
supposition,  however,  Mr.  C.  will  be  compelled  to  pay 
850  of  the  $100  tax;  in  other  words,  he  pays  $48  in 
taxes  which  Mr.  R.  ought  to  pay  ;  and  this  848,  Mr.  C. 
pays  for  incidental  protection  to  the  manufacturer,  and 
the  owner  of  iron  mines  in  Peru  !  Repudiate  the  doc- 


TARIFF    OF    1846.  203 

trine  of  'protection  for  the  sake  of  protection/  and  I  ask, 
Is  this  right  ?  Is  it  just  ? 

"  The  case  I  have  supposed  is  a  common,  a  very  ordi 
nary  one  ;  were  I  to  refer  to  an  extreme  case,  I  would 
suppose  that  the  whole  assessed  property,  real  and  per 
sonal,  in  the  county  of  Washington,  is  about  five  and  a 
half  millions  of  dollars.  John  Jacob  Astor  is  said  to  be 
worth  more  than  five  millions  of  dollars.  At  his  time  of 
life,  the  number  of  his  family,  including  his  domestics, 
probably  does  not  exceed  ten.  Now,  I  will  venture  to 
assert,  that  there  are  many  families  in  the  county  of  Wash 
ington  who  are  not  worth  a  single  cent  over  and  above 
what  would  be  necessary  to  pay  their  debts,  and  who  are 
supported  by  the  daily  labor  of  the  adults  in  such  fami 
lies,  and  yet  each  of  those  families  consumes  at  least  one- 
half  as  much  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  on  which  impost 
duties  are  laid,  as  Mr.  Astor ;  and  therefore,  two  of  these 
poor  families  pay  as  much,  or  nearly  as  much,  towards 
defraying  the  expenses  of  the  general  government  as  John 
Jacob  Astor. 

"  I  will  not  follow  out  this  reasoning  any  further. 
Enough  has  been  said  to  convince  any  man,  susceptible 
of  conviction,  that  the  system  of  indirect  taxation,  as  re 
spects  individuals,  is  grossly  unequal  and  unjust,  and  that 
as  respects  the  poor,  it  is  cruel  and  oppressive. 

"  I  will  now  proceed  to  show  that  the  impost  system  is 
unequal  and  unjust,  as  respects  different  sections  of  the 
United  States. 

"  With  this  view  I  affirm,  that  in  the  free  and  gram- 
growing  states  there  is  a  much  larger  consumption  of  du 
tiable  articles,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  persons, 
than  in  the  planting  and  shareholding  states.  At  the  north 
and  west  the  free  laborer's  wearing  apparel,  and  a  con- 


204  TARIFF    OF    lt4G. 

siderable  part  of  his  food  and  his  medicine  are  taxed.  In 
the  southern  states,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  manual  labor 
is  performed  by  slaves  ;  and  but  a  very  small  portion  of 
what  is  consumed  by  the  slave,  either  for  food  or  apparel, 
is  subject  to  duty.  Salt,  to  season  the  food  of  the  slave, 
is  used  with  great  economy  ;  and  I  am  told  that  on  many 
plantations  no  salt  at  all  is  allowed.  A  little  molasses,  to 
render  the  hominy  of  the  slave  more  palatable  and  nutri 
tious,  is  sometimes  used,  but  according  to  report,  this 
luxury  is  rarely  allowed.  These  are  almost,  if  not  quite, 
the  only  articles  of  food  for  the  field-slave  which  are 
taxed. 

"  In  the  sunny  and  wrarm  climate  of  the  states  south  of 
the  Potomac  river,  little  clothing  is  required  for  slaves  ; 
and  on  that  little  but  a  very  small  duty  is  paid,  when  corn- 
pared  with  the  duty  paid  on  the  clothes  worn  by  the  free 
laborer  of  the  north.  The  clothes  worn  by  the  negro  are 
of  the  coarsest  and  cheapest  kind.  The  negro  cloths  for 
the  winter  season,  except  those  which  are  spun  and  woven 
in  the  families  to  which  the  slave  belongs,  are  fabricated 
at  the  east,  from  Smyrna  wool,  which  consists  of  mere 
tag-locks,  and  which,  to  favor  the  slave-owner,  under  the 
act  of  1842,  and  for  some  time  before,  was  allowed  to  be 
imported  on  paying  the  nominal  duty  of  five  per  cent,  ad 
valorem.  This  was  'consented  to  by  the  members  from 
lhe  grain-growing  states,  in  the  hope,  which  has  proved 
vain,  that  this  arrangement,  being  so  favorable  to  the 
slaveholder,  would  mollify  the  opposition  of  the  south 
to  a  protective  tariff.  I  speak  without  book,  and  entirely 
from  conjecture,  but  will  venture  the  assertion,  thai  the 
2,487,113  slaves  at  the  south  do  not  consume  one-hun 
dredth  part  as  much  in  value  of  dutiable  articles  as  the 
same  number  of  laboring  free  people  at  the  north. 


TARIFF    OF    1846.  205 

"  The  state  of  Massachusetts,  in  1840,  had  a  popula 
tion  of  737,639,  and  at  the  same  period  South  Carolina 
possessed  a  population  of  594,398,  in  which  was  included 
327,038  slaves.  I  am  not  aware  that  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States  has  ever  made  any  effort  to  ascertain  the 
quantity  of  goods,  &c.,  consumed  in  the  several  stales,  and 
we  are  therefore  compelled  to  resort  entirely  to  conjec 
ture.  If,  however,  the  amount  in  value  of  dutiable  articles 
consumed  in  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina  could  be 
accurately  ascertained,  I  presume  it  would  turn  out  that 
the  people  of  Massachusetts  consume  three  times  as 
much  in  value  as  the  people  (including  the  slaves)  of 
South  Carolina.  If  this  hypothesis  is  correct,  a  citizen 
of  Massachusetts,  under  the  present  system,  pays  in  taxes, 
on  the  necessaries  of  life,  three  dollars,  when  the  citizen 
of  South  Carolina  is  required  to  pay  but  little  more  than 
one. 

"  Owing  to  a  want  of  statistical  knowledge,  my  reason 
ing  on  this  branch  of  my  subject  is  necessarily,  in  a  great 
degree,  founded,  as  I  have  before  stated,  on  conjecture  ; 
but  I  trust  no  intelligent  man  will  deny  the  truth  of  the 
general  proposition,  that  the  grain-growing  states,  in  pro 
portion  to  the  number  of  their  inhabitants,  consume  vastly 
more  of  articles  which  are  taxed,  than  the  inhabitants  of 
the  planting  states,  reckoning  the  slaves  as  a  portion  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  states  last  mentioned  ;  and  if  such 
be  the  fact,  it  is  most  obvious  that  in  the  same  proportion 
the  former  pay  a  higher  tax  than  the  latter.  Is  this  right  ? 
Can  this  mode  of  taxation  be  pronounced  equal  as  respects 
the  different  sections  of  the  country  ?  And  is  not  this  a 
case  to  which  the  celebrated  maxim  of  Chancellor  Wai- 
worth,  .*  that  equality  is  equity,'  is  peculiarly  applicable  ? 

"  If  the  systems  of  direct  and  indirect  taxation  were 


206  TARIFF    OF    1846. 

equally  just  as  respects  individuals,  and  as  respects  the 
different  sections  of  the  country,  there  is  still  another  rea 
son,  independent  of  the  principle  laid  down  by  Mr.  Lewis, 
why  direct  taxation  should  be  preferred  to  indirect.  This 
reason  I  shall  now  proceed  to  state,  with  the  same  free 
dom  that  I  have  exercised  in  discussing  every  other  branch 
of  this  important  and  interesting  inquiry,  notwithstanding 
the  extreme  sensibility  which  has  been  manifested  *  here 
and  elsewhere'  in  relation  to  the  subject  which  I  propose  to 
present  for  your  consideration. 

"  In  the  compromising  convention  which  formed  the 
United  States  constitution,  the  slaveholding  states  were 
allowed  a  property  representation  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  and  in  the  electoral  colleges,  while,  by  the  same 
constitution,  a  representation  on  account  of  property  was 
denied  to  the  non-slaveholding  states.  I  say,  a  property 
representation,  because  slaves,  by  the  laws  of  every  state 
where  slavery  is  tolerated,  are  declared  property.  Those 
states,  therefore,  are  estopped  from  denying  that  slaves 
are  property,  whatever  questions  may  be  raised  on  that 
subject  by  the  moralists  and  politicians  in  other  states  and 
countries. 

"  That  this  provision  in  the  constitution,  permitting  a 
representation  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  slaves,  gives 
to  the  slave  states  an  unequal  share  of  political  power  as 
respects  the  free  states,  everybody  knows.  Under  that 
provision  in  the  constitution,  at  this  moment,  South  Caro 
lina,  at  a  ratio  of  70,680  inhabitants  for  one  representative 
in  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives,  with  a 
free  population  of  only  267,361,  sends  to  that  body  SEVEN 
members  :  whereas,  with  a  free  population  of  2,428,921, 
New  York  is  represented  by  thirty-four  members  only. 
Hence  it  is  evident,  that  while  71,438  free  persons  in  New 


TARIFF    OF    1846.  207 

York  are  entitled  to  but  one  member,  in  South  Carolina 
38,194  of  the  same  description  of  persons  have  the  right 
to  be  represented  in  our  national  legislature  by  a  member. 
To  exhibit  this  disparity  more  clearly,  it  is  sufficient  to 
state  the  fact,  that  Vermont,  with  a  free  population  of 
291,948,  has  but  four  members,  while  South  Carolina, 
with  a  free  population,  as  before  stated,  of  267,361,  has 
seven  representatives.  Need  I  add  what  is  most  palpable, 
that  because  South  Carolina  has  327,038  slaves,  one  free 
man  in  that  state  possesses  nearly  as  much  political  power 
as  two  freemen  in  the  state  of  New  York  ! 

"  Under  this  clause  in  the  constitution  the  southern 
states,  even  by  the  present  high  ratio  of  representation, 
have,  in  the  House  of  Representatives  and  in  the  electoral 
colleges,  twenty  representatives  more  than  their  population 
would  entitle  them  to,  were  it  not  that  they  own»2,487,113 
slaves.  And  here  I  cannot  refrain  from  reminding  you 
that  the  power  thus  granted  to  them  has  not,  remained 
dormant  m  their  hands.  Some  of  the  most  important 
measures  (whether  for  weal  or  wo  is  not  now  the  subject 
of  inquiry)  as  respects  the  interests,  rights,  and  power  of 
the  nation,  in  all  time  to  come,  have  been  carried  against 
the  wishes  of  a  large  majority  of  the  representatives  from 
the  free  states  by  a  united  southern  vote  ;  and  that  vote 
has  been  made  to  preponderate  by  means  of  the  slave 
representation.  Such  was  the  admission  of  Missouri  into 
the  Union,  with  the  right  of  slaveholding  and  slave  repre 
sentation  ;  and  such  was  the  admission  of  Texas,  which 
brought  with  it  the  Mexican  war.  Even  the  tariff  law  of 
1846,  which  is  one  of  the  most  important  laws  ever 
passed  by  Congress — for  it  not  only  fixes  a  tariff  of  duties 
and  repeals  the  tariff  of  1842,  but  it  declares  and  estab 
lishes  the  vitally  important  principle,  that  protection  for 


208  TARIFF    OF    1846. 

the  sake  of  protection  ought  to  be  abandoned — was  passed 
by  means  of  the  slave  representation. 

"  Why  did  the  grain-growing  states  concede  to  the  plant 
ing  states  a  property  representation,  and  withhold  from 
themselves  the  same  right?*  Why  this  grant  of  superior 
political  power  to  the  south  ?  Every  schoolboy  can  an 
swer  these  questions,  because  the  answer  is  contained  in 
the  constitution  itself.  That  constitution  declares-  that 
*  representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned 
among  the  several  states  which  may  be  included  in  this 
Union,  according  to  their  respective  numbers.'  It  then  pro 
vides  that  five  slaves  shall,  in  making  the  enumeration,  be 
considered  equal  to  three  freemen.  The  slave  states  con 
sented  to  pay  taxes  in  proportion  to  their  representation, 
in  consideration  of  which  the  free  states  agreed  that  they 
should  be  entitled  to  a  representation  for  their  slaves. 
Thus,  suppose  the  sum  of  eleven  hundred  thousand  dollars 
was  to  be  raised  from  two  states,  say  South  Carolina  and 
Vermont.  The  former  being  entitled  to  seven  "members 
arid  the  latter  to  four,  South  Carolina  would  be  required  by 
direct  taxation  to  pay  $700,000,  and  Vermont  $400,000. 
Now,  it  will  not  be  denied  that  at  the  time  of  the  adoption 
of  the  federal  constitution,  it  was  universally  believed  that 
flie  government  would  be  mainly  supported  by  direct  taxa 
tion.  Hence,  I  say  that  the  consideration  which  induced 
the  free  states  to  yield  to  the  south  a  property  representa 
tion  was,  that  it  should  pay  taxes  in  proportion  to  its  repre 
sentation.  At  that  early  day  the  patriots,  fresh  from  the 
field  of  the  revolutionary  struggle,  intended  to  carry  out, 
the  great  principle  for  which  they  had  so  recently  con 
tended  at  the  risk  of  their  lives  and  fortunes,  (and,  indeed, 
a  violation  of  this  principle  by  the  British  parliament, 
caused  the  American  Revolution,)  that  is  to  say,  thattaxa- 


TARIFF    OF    1846.  209 

lion  and  representation  should  go  hand  in  hand,  and  bear 
an  equal  proportion  to  each  other. 

"  It  can  hardly  be  necessary  for  me  to  put  you  in  mind 
that  by  a  system  of  indirect  taxation,  which  compels  the 
consumer  to  pay  the  whole  expenses  of  government,  the 
planting  states  wholly  fail  to  pay  the  consideration  for  the 
grant  of  that  high  prerogative — a  property  representation. 

"  I  ask,  then,  in  all  frankness  and  candor,  whether  from 
this  view  of  the  case  an  additional  reason  is  not  furnished 
for  abolishing  the  indirect  and  adopting  the  direct  system 
of  taxation  ? 

"  I  now  most  respectfully  submit  to  your  judgment, 
whether  the  practice  of  defraying  the  expenses  of  govern 
ment  by  impost  duties  alone  ought  longer  to  be  tolerated 
as  a  revenue  system,  and  whether  the  incidental  protection 
it  affords  to  the  grower,  producer,  and  manufacturer,  is 
not  purchased  (being  purchased  as  it  is  by  the  laboring 
poor)  at  too  dear  a  rate  ? 

"  But  the  manufacturers  and  producers  tell  us  that  the 
incidental  protection  afforded  by  Mr.  Walker's  tariff,  is 
entirely  insufficient  to  sustain  them  ;  that  without  more 
efficient  aid  from  government,  their  woollen,  and,  it  may 
be,  their  cotton  mills  must  stand  still,  and  their  iron  ore 
remain  buried  in  the  earth.  If  this  declaration  be  true,  it 
makes  the  tariff  law  of  1846  what  Mr.  Walker  intended  it 
should  be — a  law  enacted  for  the  sole  and  only  purpose 
of  raising  a  revenue.  Viewing  it,  then,  as  exclusively  a 
revenue  bill,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  it  to  be  what 
I  think  I  have  proved  it  to  be,  partial,  unequal,  unjust,  and 
oppressive,  and  cruel  to  the  laboring  poor  of  the  middle, 
western,  and  northern  states. 

"  It  may  naturally  be  asked  why,  if  the  impost  system 
be  attended  with  the  evils,  and  be  as  partial  and  unjust  a» 

14 


210  TARIFF    OF    1846. 

I  have  represented,  it  has  been  so  long  quietly  submitted 
to  ?  Why  has  not  an  outcry  been  long  ago  raised  against 
it  ?  In  replying  to  these  questions,  I  would  in  my  turn  ask, 
how  did  it  happen  that  the  monopoly  of  banking  was  so 
long  acquiesced  in  without  a  murmur  or  word  of  com 
plaint  ?  Why  was  the  feudal  system  submitted  to,  and 
the  divine  right  of  kings  admitted  by  the  people  of  all  the 
European  nations  for  more  than  twelve  hundred  years 
since  the  Christian  era  ? 

"  Time  and  long  experience  are  necessary  in  order  to 
convince  the  masses  of  moral,  social,  and  political  truths, 
especially  when  a  few  influential  individuals  are  interested 
to  delude  them.  Rich  and  influential  men,  though  they 
themselves  may  be  convinced  that  their  poor  neighbors 
pay  more  in  taxes  than  their  proportion,  will  be  tardy  in 
their  endeavors  to  convince  those  poor  neighbors  that  such 
is  the  fact.  How  soon  will  Mr.  R.,  in  the  case  I  have 
supposed,  make  an  effort,  in  good  faith,  to  prove  to  Mr.  C. 
that  he  pays  forty-eight  dollars,  annually,  towards  defray 
ing  the  expenses  of  government,  which  in  equity  and  good 
conscience  Mr.  R.  himself  ought  to  pay  ?  Poor  human 
nature  must  greatly  change,  or  he  will  never  do  it. 

"  In  further  explanation  of  the  causes  of  the  apathy  of 
politicians  in  relation  to  this  subject,  it  may  be  remarked, 
that  when  the  impost  system  was  first  introduced  by  Gen. 
Hamilton,  it  was  warmly  opposed  by  many  republican 
members  of  Congress,  but  that  northern  politicians  then 
endeavored  to  prevent,  and  have  ultimately  succeeded  in 
preventing,  the  masses  from  comparing  the  systems  of  di 
rect  and  indirect  taxation,  with  respect  to  the  inequality 
of  their  operation,  because  the  northern  statesman  was 
anxious  to  PROTECT  our  infant  manufactories  ;  and  the 
southern  gentlemen,  while  they  made  loud  professions  of 


TARIFF    OF    1846.  211 

free-trade  principles,  were  desirous  to  conceal  the  odious 
features  of  indirect  taxation,  because  a  disclosure  would 
produce  a  change  which  would  subject  their  section  of  the 
country  to  pay  a  much  larger  portion  of  taxes  than  they 
pay  under  the  present  system  ;  and  would  result  in  the 
adoption  of  a  mode  of  taxation  which  would  require  them, 
as  the  constitution  intended,  to  pay  for  their  slave  repre 
sentation.  The  free-trade  system  which  they  advocate 
does  indeed  leave  their  trade  free  or  nearly  so,  but  it  leaves 
the  expenses  of  the  government  to  be  paid  mainly  by  the 
laboring  poor  of  the  grain-growing  states. 

"  The  signs  of  the  times  indicate  that  this  great  ques 
tion  is  about  to  receive  the  consideration  by  the  statesmen 
and  people  of  this  nation,  and  especially  by  those  of  the 
northern,  middle,  and  western  slates,  which  its  importance 
eminently  demands. 

"  And,  if  upon  a  full  and  fair  investigation,  it  shall  be 
found  that  the  '  INCIDENTAL'  protection  afforded  by  a  tariff 
for  revenue  alone  will  not  sustain  our  manufactories,  our 
sheep-growers,  producers  of  iron,  &c. — if  it  is  contrary 
to  the  genius  of  our  institutions,  and  Mr.  Lewis  admits 
that  it  is,  that  a  citizen  should  be  compelled  to  pay  taxes 
without  the  possibility  of  knowing  when  and  what  amount 
of  tax  he  pays — if  the  system  of  impost  in  its  operation 
be  unjust  and  unequal,  as  respects  different  sections  of 
the  nation — if  by  means  of  the  slave  representation,  con 
trary  to  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  constitution,  the 
sacred  principle  that  taxation  and  representation  should  be 
proportioned,  the  one  to  the  other,  be  by  indirect  taxation 
flagrantly  violated — if  the  whole  national  revenue  is  to  be 
extorted  from  the  consumer,  and  therefore  principally  from 
the  laboring  poor — and,  if  by  this  system  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  in  order  to  pay  thirty  millions  of  dollars 


212  BOSTON. 

into  the  treasury  of  the  United  States,  are  obliged  actually 
to  pay  more  than  sixty  millions  of  dollars, — I  humbly  con 
ceive  and  ardently  hope  that  at  no  distant  day  the  course 
of  legislation  on  the  subject  will  be  changed,  and  that  it 
will  be  controlled  by  an  avowed  regard  to  PROTECTION  for 
our  manufacturers,  growers,  and  producers  ;  or,  that  mere 
'  INCIDENTAL'  protection  will  be  abandoned  and  repudiated, 
and  that  a  system  of  FREE  TRADE,  not  nominal  but  real, 
will  be  permanently  established. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  T.  THORNTON." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Author  visits  New  England — Boston — Prejudices  in  New  England 
against  People  of  Color — A  Female  Abolitionist — Distinguished  Citizens 
of  the  State  of  New  York  who  belong  to  the  Abolition  Party. 

IN  my  excursions  at  the  north,  I  had  not  travelled  as 
much  in  New  England,  or  made  myself  as  well  acquainted 
with  "  the  Universal  Yankee  Nation"  at  home,  as  was  de 
sirable  ;  and  therefore,  in  the  summer  of  1834,  I  deter 
mined  to  spend  the  greater  part  of  it  in  the  celebrated, 
ancient,  and  interesting  section  which  has  been,  and  per 
haps  not  inappropriately,  called  the  Land  of  the  Pilgrims. 

I  went  directly  to  Boston.  This  city,  if  we  consider 
Cambridge  as  an  appendage  to  it,  claims  to  be,  and  in 
fact  is,  the  Athens  of  America.  Its  literary  coterie,  and 
the  periodical  publications  which  issue  from  Boston  and 
its  vicinity,  are  of  a  higher  character  than  any  others  on 
the  continent.  John  Quincy  Adams,  Judge  Story,  the 


NEW    ENGLAND.  213 

Everetts,  the  Quincys,  Bancroft,  Mrs.  Child,  &c.,  have 
acquired  a  reputation  for  extensive  learning,  genius,  and 
scientific  attainments,  which  certainly  entitle  them  to  a 
distinguished  station  among  the  literati  of  the  age.  I  may 
also  remark  that  Boston,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
its  inhabitants,  is  supposed  to  contain  more  wealth  than 
any  other  city  in  America. 

The  people  of  New  England  possess  much  of  that 
spirit  of  daring  enterprise  which  was  exhibited  by  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  Sir  Francis  Drake,  and  others,  in  the 
time  of  Elizabeth  of  England,  and  which  marked  the 
character  of  the  Reformers  in  Great  Britain,  during  the 
revolution  which  occurred  in  the  reign  of  the  elder  Charles, 
— as  well  as  the  stern  virtues  of  the  pilgrims  who  planted 
themselves  on  the  rock  of  Plymouth.  But  although  the 
enterprising  spirit  of  the  Puritans,  as  respects  the  busi 
ness  concerns  of  life,  has  been  transmitted  to,  and  exists 
in  full  vigor  in,  the  present  generation  of  their  descend 
ants,  the  religious  zeal  and  theological  principles  of  a 
great  majority  of  the  latter  have  undergone  important  and 
radical  changes.  A  part  of  them,  and  a  very  large  and 
respectable  part,  have  become  Unitarians  ;  some  are 
Methodists,  some  Baptists,  some  Transcendentalists,  and 
others  are  .Freethinkers,  or  Deists.  The  disciples  of 
Fanny  Wright  meet,  I  am  informed,  regularly  on  Sun 
days  ;  public  lectures  are  delivered,  and  debates  are  had, 
the  object  of  which  is  to  prove  that  the  notion  of  a  divine 
revelation  is  a  fallacy. 

With  what  horror*  and  detestation  would  old  Cotton 
Mather,  or  the  venerable  Governor  Winthrop,  or  the  zeal 
ous  and  fanatical  Sir  Henry  Vane,  have  viewed  such  a 
conventicle  !  Not  only  the  spiritual  power,  but  the  arm 
of  flesh,  would  have  been  put  in  requisition  to  extermi- 


214  PREJUDICE  AGAINST  COLOR. 

nate  such  bold  blasphemers.  A  remnant  of  the  Puritans 
still  remains,  and  their  doctrines  are  yet  taught  in  the  theo 
logical  school  at  Andover  ;  but  that  ancient  and  venerable 
seat  of  learning,  Harvard  College,  at  Cambridge,  has 
passed  into  the  hands  of,  and  is  now  controlled  by,  the 
Unitarians.  It  still,  however,  retains  its  high  character  as 
a  literary  institution. 

The  people  of  New  England  are  firm  advocates  of 
equal  rights,  jealous  of  their  personal  liberty,  and  unani 
mously  opposed  to  African  slavery  ;  and  yet,  in  no  part 
of  America,  and  of  course  in  no  part  of  the  habitable 
globe,  is  the  prejudice  against  the  color  of  the  black  man 
stronger  than  in  New  England.  To  prove  this  assertion, 
I  will  relate  one  or  two  instances  which  fell  under  my  own 
observation. 

Many  of  the  colored  citizens  of  Boston  are  members 
of  religious  societies  and  congregations,  the  major  part  of 
which  consists  of  white  people.  One  Saturday  evening, 
while  I  was  in  Boston,  I  was  informed  that  a  lecture  pre 
paratory  to  the  administration  of  the  sacrament  would  be 
delivered  in  one  of  the  churches,  and  that  the  colored 
brethren  of  the  congregation  were  especially  requested  to 
attend.  This  announcement  induced  me  to  go  and  hear 
the  lecture.  I  found  there  more  than  a  hundred  male  and 
female  adult  colored  people.  The  preacher,  after  discus 
sing  the  topics  usual  on  such  occasions,  addressed  himself 
particularly  to  his  colored  brothers  and  sisters,  as  he  called 
them.  He  told  them  that  it  had  pleased  God  to  establish 
a  difference  between  them  and  their  white  brethren  ;  that 
they  must  not  repine  nor  complain  because  they  were 
doomed  to  an  inferior  station  in  society.  He  reminded 
them  of  the  sin  of  their  ancestor  Ham,  on  whose  account 
they  were  degraded  by  the  fiat  of  a  just  God  ;  that  they 


A    FEMALE    ABOLITIONIST.  215 

must  not  imagine  themselves  socially  equal  to  the  white 
Christians  because  they  were  permitted  to  sit  with  them 
at  the  communion-table  ;  and  that  spiritual  pride  was  at 
war  with  a  truly  Christian  spirit.  He  exhorted  them  not  to 
aspire  in  society  to  equality  with  their  white  brethren  ;  he 
charged  them  never  to  forget  their  place  in  community,  or 
in  the  church  ;  he  recommended  humility  as  a  Christian 
virtue,  which  they  in  particular  ought  to  possess  ;  and 
concluded  by  charging  them  to  sit  together  during  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  ordinance,  at  the  same  time  assuring 
them  that  they  should  be  served  immediately  after  their 
white  brethren  had  partaken  of  the  sacrament.  Can  such 
religious  instruction  tend  to  the  diffusion  of  the  Christian 
virtues,  or  the  moral  elevation  of  the  negro  race  ?  I  con 
fess  I  left  the  assembly  with  feelings  more  indignant  than 
charitable. 

A  day  or  two  after  attending  this  meeting  I  look  my 
seat  in  a  stage-coach  for  the  purpose  of  going  to  Wor 
cester,  an  old  inland  town  in  Massachusetts.  There  were 
but  two  other  passengers,  and  both  were  females.  One 
of  them  was  an  old  lady  whom  I  had  before  seen  in 
Boston,  and  the  other  was  a  gayly-dressed  woman  of  per 
haps  twenty-eight  or  thirty  years  of  age.  Her  counte 
nance  was  a  little  tinged  with  melancholy,  but  she  had,  if 
not  a  handsome,  rather  an  intellectual  face.  She  ap 
peared  disposed  to  be  quite  sociable,  and  I  soon  found  she 
was  a  single  woman,  and  kept  a  boarding-school  in  one  of 
the  country  towns  about  twenty  miles  from  Boston.*  We 
talked  on  various  subjects,  and  she  afforded  evidence  that 
she  had  read  a  good  many  books,  and  especially  all  the 
novels  then  in  vogue.  She  was  particularly  eloquent  in 
praise  of  Sir  Walter  Scott.  Accidentally  the  abolition 
societies,  which  were  then  forming  in  Massachusetts,  were 


216  A    FEMALE    ABOLITIONIST. 

spoken  of,  and  the  outbreak  of  the  mob  which  had  lately 
occurred  at  Lynn.  The  lady  declared  herself  a  zealous 
abolitionist,  and  denounced  with  great  bitterness  the  slave 
holders  of  the  south.  I  told  her  I  believed  that  some  of 
them  were  benevolent  and  good  men  ;  but  this  she  sternly 
contradicted.  I  urged  in  excuse  for  the  slaveholder  his 
pecuniary  interest,  and  the  effect  of.  education,  and  in  the 
course  of  my  remarks  said  that  I  myself  was  born  a  slave, 
and  had  been  emancipated  by  the  benevolence  of  the 
person  who  owned  me. 

"  How  can  that  be  possible  ?"  said  the  lady  :  "  I  thought 
none  but  negroes  could  be  enslaved  anywhere." 

I  told  her  that  my  mother  was  a  mulatto  woman  and 
slave,  and  that  I  was  at  least  one  quarter  of  negro  blood. 
She  bridled  up,  appeared  alarmed  and  offended,  and  re 
marked,  with  great  solemnity,  that  it  was  highly  improper 
for  negroes,  or  those  related  to  them,  to  attempt  to  asso 
ciate  with  white  people. 

"  Folks,"  she  said,  "  ought  to  know  their  places  ;"  and 
turning  to  the  old  lady,  she  said,  u  travelling  in  public  con 
veyances  was  becoming  every  day  worse  and  worse  regu 
lated." 

After  this  courteous  speech  she  maintained  a  dignified 
silence,  which  of  course  I  did  not  attempt  to  disturb. 

If  I  had  leisure,  and  could  presume  on  the  patience  of 
the  reader,  I  could  write  a  volume  on  the  peculiar  habits 
and  modes  of  thinking  of  the  people  of  New  England,  and 
on  the  incidents  which  occurred  during  the  three  months 
which  I  spent  among  them  ;  but  fearing  that  my  lucubra 
tions  will  become  tedious  to  those  who  may  condescend 
to  peruse  these  sheets,  and  being  myself  just  now  pre 
paring  to  make  a  journey  to  Paris,  and  probably  to  the 
eternal  city,  old  Rome,  I  will  close  for  the  present  by 


ABOLITION    SOCIETY.  217 

stating,  that  in  my  judgment  the  masses  in  New  England 
are  better  educated,  and  possess  more  general  information, 
than  the  masses  of  any  other  people  ;  but  that  they  them 
selves  estimate  their  superiority  to  be  much  greater  than 
it  really  is.  We  have  been  long  since  admonished,  by  an 
eminent  poet,  that  "  a  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing," 
and  each  man  in  New  England  has  "  a  little  learning" 
He,  therefore, ^asily  persuades  himself  that  he  knows  a 
great  deal :  he  finds  his  neighbors  know  about  as  much 
as  he  does,  and  he  and  his  neighbors,  with  great  unanimity 
and  complacency,  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  they  are 
vastly  superior  in  intellectual  attainments  to  any  other  por 
tion  of  the  human  race.  I  by  no  means  intend  these  re 
marks  as  applicable  to  the  highest  class  of  educated  men 
in  the  land  of  the  Pilgrims.  I  speak  of  the  masses  only. 

Both  the  English  and  American  reader,  who  is  at  all 
acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  non-slaveholding  states 
in  America,  know  that  a  short  time  before  the  period  about 
which  I  am  now  writing,  a  few  intelligent  and  benevolent 
citizens  formed  an  association  at  Philadelphia,  with  the 
declared  object  of  attempting  to  effect,  by  peaceable  means 
and  by  moral  suasion,  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States.  The  object  of  the  association  was  laudable,  and 
evidently  addressed  itself  to  the  best  feelings  of  the  patriot 
and  the  philanthropist.  The  reasons  why  so  few  of  the 
merchants,  of  the  manufacturers,  of  the  politicians,  and 
of  the  clergy,  joined  this  association,  are  well  set  forth  by 
my  friend  Thornton  in  his  conversation  with  Mr.  Lundy.* 
Unfortunately  those  few  who  did  become  members  of  this 
society  were  not  practical  men,  but  were  governed  more 
by  theoretical  notions  than  by  actual  experience,  or  they 
were  over-zealous  religionists.  The  most  efficient  and 

*  See  Chapter  VII. 


218  ABOLITIONISTS    IN    NEW    YORK. 

influential  men  among  them  were  citizens  of  the  great 
state  of  New  York  ;  and  during  my  visits  to  that  state, 
whether  with,  a  view  to  business  or  pleasure,  I  took  pains, 
from  the  deep  interest  I  felt  in  the  great  enterprise  in 
which  they  were  engaged,  to  become  personally  acquainted 
with  several  of  them. 

ARTHUR  TAPPAN,  an  importing  merchant  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  was,  I  believe,  the  first  president  of  the  society. 
Mr.  Tappan  pursues  with  great  zeal  every  scheme  which 
he  projects  as  a  merchant,  or  as  a  member  of  the  Presby 
terian  church.  ,1  am  not  aware  that  he  has  ever  permitted 
himself  to  take  much  interest  in  political  contests,  except 
the  part  which  he  has  taken  in  opposition  to  negro  slavery. 
He  and  his  brother  Lewis,  however,  are  zealously  and 
sincerely  engaged  in  efforts  to  promote  the  diffusion  of 
abolition  principles  ;  but  not  having  been  trained  as  com 
batants  in  political  contests,  and  being  actively  engaged  in 
extensive  commercial  transactions,  they  have  never  been 
able  to  produce  much  effect,  or  make  any  considerable 
number  of  converts  to  the  cause  of  abolitionism  in  the 
great  city  of  New  York. 

The  Hon.  WILLIAM  JAY,  whose  residence  is  chiefly  at 
his  country  seat  in  Westchester  county,  in  the  mansion 
house  of  his  venerable  and  venerated  father,  Gov.  JOHN 
JAY,  well  known  and  highly  esteemed,  both  in  England 
and  America,  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  efficient  and 
able  friends  of  universal  emancipation  of  the  present  age.  Of 
this  gentleman,  of  his  quiet  and  retired  life,  of  his  distin 
guished  talents,  and  of  the  entire  absence  of  all  'selfish  mo 
tives  which  in  the  least  control  his  action,  I  have  already  spo 
ken.*  He  may  justly  be  styled  the  Wilberforce  of  America. 

*  See  Chapter  XII.  Judge  Jay  has  written  and  published  many  valuable 
anti-slavery  treatises. — Editor. 


GERRIT    SMITH.  219 

GERRIT  SMITH,  Esq.,  of  Madison  county,  is  a  conscien 
tious  and  zealous  abolitionist.  Mr.  Smith  is  one  of  the  largest 
landholders  in  the  state  of  New  York.  He  is  constitutionally 
a  man  of  universal,  ardent  benevolence.  He  first  distin 
guished  himself  as  a  patron  of  the  Colonization  Society ; 
and  soon  after  he  came  into  the  possession  of  his  large 
estate,  he  subscribed  $10,000,  to  be  expended  by  that 
society.  But  he  afterwards  satisfied  himself  that  its  ope 
rations,  instead  of  enfranchising,  would  tend  to  rivet  the 
chains  of  the  slave.  He  therefore  became  a  zealous,  libe 
ral,  and  working  member  of  the  abolition  party.  Mr. 
Smith's  personal  appearance  is  very  prepossessing.  His 
heart  and  hand  are  open  to  relieve  the  wants  and  distresses 
of  all  men.  Though  he  has  not  been  bred  to  any  profes 
sion,  he  is  an  interesting  and  accomplished  orator,  and  his 
public  addresses  are  always  well  received,  and  produce 
great  effect.  Impelled  by  a  high  sense  of  duty,  he,  to  whom 
wealth,  talents,  and  personal  popularity  seemed  to  prom 
ise  the  highest  honors  of  the  Empire  State,  sacrificed  all 
those  fascinating  and  brilliant  prospects,  so  well  calculated 
to  dazzle  the  youthful  mind,  for  the  sake  of  advocating 
the  cause  of  the  degraded  and  down-trodden  slave.  A 
God  of  infinite  benevolence  will  reward  him.*  But  these 
men,  however  conscientious  or  pure  may  be  their  mo- 


*  Mr.  Smith  has  recently  made  a  donation  of  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TVVKN- 
TY  THOUSAND  ACRES  of  land,  lying  in  the  state  of  New  York,  to  be  divided 
equally  among  three  thousand  colored  men.  Of  course  each  of  the  donees 
are  entitled  to.forty  acres  of  land.  This  munificent  gift,  probably  greater  ill 
value  than  has  ever  been  bestowed  by  any  individual  citizen  of  the  state,  it  IB 
hoped  will  be  of  essential  use  in  promoting  the  comfort  and  elevating  the 
character  of  our  colored  population.  It  will  draw  into  the  country  a  large 
portion  of  them  from  our  cities  and  villages,  who  either  idle  away  their 
time,  or  are  engaged  in  servile  employments.  When  thus  removed  from 


220  ALVAN    STEWART. 

lives,  or  however  great  and  shining  their  talents,  are 
not  calculated,  in  the  present  state  of  society  in  New 
York,  to  form  and  build  up  a  party  which  can  obtain  a 
political  ascendency.  The  gentlemen  I  have  mentioned 
inculcate  only  what  they  deem  to  be  right,  not  what  is 
expedient.  They  promise  no  office,  nor  its  emolument. 
They  devise  no  schemes  or  stratagems  to  detach  men 
from  other  parties.  They  address  themselves  solely  to 
the  consciences  of  their  fellow-citizens.  They  are,  I 
think,  too  prescriptive.  You  cannot  become  a  member 
of  their  party  without  you  consent  to  occupy  the  bed  of 
Procrustes. 

ALVAN  STEWART*  is  a  lawyer  of  considerable  emi 
nence.  He  is  a  man  of  most  intense  and  ardent  feeling, 
and  one  of  the  most  amusing  speakers  I  ever  heard. 
When  disposed  to  excite  the  risibility  of  his  hearers,  the 
most  grave  audieruce  cannot  resist  him.  To  avoid  laugh 
ing  when  he  chooses  to  provoke  laughter,  "  exceeds  all 
power  of  face."  His  wit  is  of  a  singular  character,  if, 
indeed,  that  can  be  called  wit  which  does  not  consist  in 
keenness  of  repartee.  Mr.  Stewart  excites  laughter  by 
an  odd  or  rather  queer  combination  of  ideas.  The  fancy 
is  amused  and  delighted  by  his  jumbling  together  thoughts 
which  no  imagination  but  Mr.  Stewart's  could  bring  to 
gether.  He  produces  the  same  effects  on  the  mind  as  the 
kaleidescope  does  on  the  sight.  His  illustrations,  too,  are 
original,  unique,  and  wonderfully  amusing.  No  man  ever 

scenes  which  too  often  allure  them  to  vice  and  crime,  their  time  will  be 
occupied  in  the  independent  and  honorable  employment  of  cultivating  their 
own  farms. 

None  but  GERRIT  SMITH  would  have  done  this. — Editor. 

*  This  gentleman  was  the  candidate  of  the  Liberty  party  for  governor 
in  1844 — Editor. 


JULIUS    R.    AMES.  221 

possessed  a  more  luxuriant  imagination  than  Alvan  Stew 
art.  He  has  read  much,  and  his  memory  is  very  tena 
cious,  extending  to  names  and  dates  and  other  minute 
particulars. 

All  the  gentlemen  I  have  mentioned  are  pious,  and,  I 
fear,  somewhat  fanatical,  except  Mr.  Jay,  who  is  an  Epis 
copalian,  and  who,  though  undoubtedly  a  devout  Chris 
tian,  is  perfectly  free  from  enthusiasm. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  catalogue  of  leading  abolitionists 
in  the  state  of  New  York  without  naming  one  other  gen 
tleman,  who,  so  far  from  being  fanatical,  is  as  zealous, 
and  I  may  add,  as  honest  a  Deist,  as  Mr.  Tappan  or  Mr. 
Smith  are  honest  and  zealous  Presbyterians.  That  gen 
tleman's  name  is  JULIUS  R.  AMES,  of  Albany,  the  son  of 
a  celebrated  painter  of  that  city.  Mr.  Ames  is  a  bachelor 
of  easy  fortune.  He  follows  no  profession  or  business, 
but  devotes  himself  entirely  to  acts  of  charity  and  benevo 
lence.  He  has  been  from  a  boy  an  ardent  champion  of 
equal  rights  ;  and  more  consistent  than  many  of  our  most 
distinguished  democrats,  Mr.  Ames  cannot  believe  that  one 
man  can  rightfully  own  another.  He  has  contributed  much 
by  his  personal  influence,  by  his  purse,  and  by  his  labors 
with  his  pen,  to  advance  the  cause  of  anti-slavery.  No 
matter  whether  a  man  is  a  Whig  or  a  Democrat,  (though 
Mr.  A.,  I  believe,  belongs  to  the  Democratic  party,)  a 
Catholic,  a  Jew,  a  Methodist,  or  a  disciple  of  Fanny 
Wright,  if  he  holds  to  the  doctrine  of  equal  rights,  and  is 
disposed  to  carry  out  that  doctrine  by  removing  the 
shackles  from  the  slave,  Mr.  Ames  hails  him  as  a  brother. 

Besides  the  gentlemen  I  have  named,  there  are  so  many 
others,  eminent  for  their  talents  and  standing  in  society, 
who  belong  to  the  abolition  party,  that  it  may  almost  ap 
pear  invidious  to  have  referred  in  particular  to  those 


222       OTHER  FRIENDS  OF  NEGRO  FREEDOM. 

individuals.  There  is  also  a  great  number  of  news 
papers  belonging  to  the  party,  published  weekly,  and 
some  daily,  which  advocate  with  great  zeal  and  ability 
the  cause  of  universal  emancipation.  I  could  name  some 
of  the  ablest  editors  in  America  whose  labors  are  devoted 
to  this  great  and  good  cause.  *' 

There  are  likewise  many  distinguished  individuals,  who 
belong  to  one  or  other  of  the  two  great  political  parties, 
who,  on  all  proper  occasions,  avow  abolition  principles, 
but  who  think  it  unwise  to  organize,  or  encourage  the  or 
ganization,  of  a  political  party  distinct  from  the  other  two 
parties.  These  gentlemen  will  be  found,  and  in  my  judg 
ment  it  is  fortunate  they  can  be  found,  in  the  ranks  of 
both  the  great  parties.  Among  these  friends  of  liberty  and 
of  man,  are  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  late  governor  of  the 
state  of  New  York ;  HARMANUS  BLEEKER,  late  the  American 
diplomatic  representative  at  the  Court  of  the  King  of  the 
Netherlands  ;  GEORGE  P.  BARKER,  late  attorney-general 
of  the  state  of  New  York  ;  THEODORE  SEDGWICK,  an  able 
lawyer  and  eminent  citizen  of  the  city  of  New  York  ;  WIL 
LIAM  C.  BRYANT,  of  the  Evening  Post,  eminent,  not  only 
as  an  able,  independent  editor,  but  as  a  man  of  distin 
guished  genius  ;  the  talented  and  philanthropic  HORACE 
GREELEY,  of  the  New  York  Tribune;  and  THURLOWWEED, 
of  Albany,  late  printer  to  the  state  of  New  York.  These 
gentlemen,  in  conjunction  with  many  others,  are,  by  their 
influence  in  society,  and  with  their  respective  political 
parties,  doing  much  for  the  cause  of  universal  emancipa 
tion,  and  for  restoring  the  colored  man  to  the  station 
among  men  to  which,  by  the  laws  of  nature  and  nature's 
God,  he  is  entitled. 

The  abolitionists  proper,  or,  as  they  now  call  them 
selves,  the  Liberty  party,  considering  the  present  state  of 


ABOLITIONISTS.  223 

society  in  America,  are  not,  in  my  opinion,  calculated  to 
gather  or  build  up  a  political  party  which  will  ever  attract 
to  its  standard  a  majority  of  the  people.  This  is  not  ow 
ing  to  any  want  of  talent  or  personal  merit  in  their  lead 
ers  ;  on  the  contrary,  I  do  not  believe  that  any  party  in  the 
state  of  New  York  ever  existed,  which,  in  proportion  to  its 
numbers,  contained  more  talent,  and  wealth,  and  personal 
worth.  Their  defect,  in  my  judgment,  consists  in  this. 
They  lose  sight  of  the  maxim,  that  you  must  deal  with  the 
mass  of  mind  according  to  its  actual  state  and  condition, 
and  that  you  must  address  society  as  it  is.  The  aboli 
tionists,  though  they  read  their  Bible  much,  forget  that 
St.  Paul,  one  of  the  most  successful  partisans  that  ever 
lived,  became  "  all  things  to  all  men."  What  opinion 
should  we  form  of  a  physician  who  should  direct  the  same 
regimen  for  a  man  exhausted  with  a  wasting  fever,  as  for 
the  man  in  high  health  ? 


224  REV.    THEODORE    PARKER. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Animadversions  on  the  Sermon  of  the  Rev  Mr.  Parker,  of  Boston — Tam 
many  Hall  Resolutions  on  Negro  Suffrage — Impudent  interference  of 
Mr.  Ritchie — Character  given  by  Mr.  Clay  of  his  man  Charles — By 
Mr.  Upshur  of  his  slave,  David  Rich — Conclusion. 

LONDON,  April  30,  1846. 

THIS  morning,  in  looking  over  a  file  of  American  news 
papers,  my  attention  was  arrested  by  the  following  article, 
contained  in  one  of  the  Boston  journals.  The  article  is 
headed, 


"  The  Rev.  Theodore  Parker,  of  Roxbury,  Massachu 
setts,"  says  the  editor,  "  preached,  for  the  first  time  since 
his  return  from  Europe,  last  Sunday  at  his  own  church. 
A  hearer  reports  the  following  as  one  of  the  passages  of 
his  discourse  : 

"  On  arriving  in  Europe,  the  first  sensation  an  Ameri 
can  traveller  felt  was  the  strangeness  which  pervaded  the 
face  of  every  thing — all  bore  the  marks  of  stability,  of  age, 
and  of  the  past — when  here  all  was  the  reverse.  He  spoke 
of  the  brutality  and  degradation  of  the  poor  and  laboring 
classes  in  England,  as  compared  with  the  same  classes 
here,  and  of  the  contempt  with  which  the  British  aristoc 
racy  regard  man  as  man.  There,  things  were  held  in 
higher  estimation  than  man, — while  here,  with  all  our  lust 
for  gain,  the  divine  nature  of  man  was  respected  far  above 
things. 


-^  RECENT    BRITISH    IMPROVEMENTS!*  225 

™  England  was,  for  the  rich  and  noble,  a  paradise  ;  for 
the  good  and  wise,  a  purgatory ;  and,  for  the  laboring 
poor,  a  hell.  Although  from  the  very  depths  of  his  heart 
he  detested  slavery,  in  all  its  forms,  yet  he  should  think 
the  condition  of  the  mass  of  the  laboring  classes  there  was 
sufficiently  wretched  and  miserable  to  induce  them  to  fall 
on  their  knees  and  beg  to  be  admitted  to  the  worst  condi 
tion  of  southern  slavery" 

It  is  true,  the  condition  of  the  British  laborer  is  very 
miserable,  but  that  condition  is  in  a  great  degree  pro 
duced  by  the  high  price  of  breadstuff's,  which  is  occasion 
ed  by  the  corn  laws.  That  cruel  and  oppressive  mode 
of  taxation  on  the  necessaries  for  the  subsistence  of  hu 
man  life  is,  however,  being  ameliorated,  and  well-founded 
hopes  may  now  be  cherished  that  the  time  will  soon  come 
when  corn  will  be  as  cheap  in  London  as  in  New  York, 
with  the  trifling  addition  of  the  expense  of  transportation 
from  the  latter  to  the  former  place. 

An  American  writer,  who,  whatever  may  have  been  his 
faults  or  his  errors  on  other  questions,  appears  well  ac 
quainted  with  the  recent  changes  which  have  occurred  in 
England,  when  speaking  of  the  improvements  lately  made 
by  the  English  in  their  laws,  and  in  their  social  relations 
and  commercial  affairs,  says  : — 

"  Since  1819,  Britain  has  destroyed  her  rotten  borough 
representation  in  the  three  kingdoms,  and  given  Man 
chester,  Birmingham,  Leeds,  Sheffield,  Edinburgh,  Aber 
deen,  Dundee,  Greenock,  and  other  populous  communi 
ties,  a  voice  in  her  parliament.  She  has  put  down  the 
usurped  borough  governments  which  obtained  in  her 
towns  and  cities  ;  given  the  towns  improved  municipal 
charters,  with  the  power  of  electing  their  mayors,  alder 
men,  &c.,  and  improving  the  condition  of,  and  educating 

15 


226  RECENT    BRITISH    IMPROVEMENTS. 

the  masses.  She  has  broken  down,  in  Ireland,  the  close 
borough  system,  insomuch  that  the  proscription  and  fa 
voritism  of  old  times  are  at  an  end,  and  Daniel  O'Connell, 
a  Roman  Catholic,  has  been  mayor  of  Dublin.  She  has 
reduced  the  seven  cent  stamp  duty  on  newspapers  to  two 
cents,  mail  postage  included — and  has  led  the  way  to  a 
reduction  of  letter  postage,  charging  only  two  cents  for  a 
letter,  any  distance, — charged  by  us  yet  five  to  ten,  and. 
for  which  she  formerly  exacted  ten  cents  to  half  a  crown, 
while  we  demanded  six  cents  to  fifty.  She  has  neither 
broken  down  the  Bank  of  England  nor  a  paper  currency, 
but  she  has  changed  an  irredeemable  paper  circulating 
medium  into  gold  and  silver  for  all  sums  under  $25 ;  and  her 
$25,  and  higher  denominations  of  bank  notes  are  redeema 
ble  always  in  gold  at  the  Bank  of  England,  which  is  under 
an  efficient  supervision,  including  real  publicity,  and  qp 
safety-fund  political  machinery  to  mar  its  usefulness. 

"Britain,  too,  since  1819,  has  emancipated -both  Prot 
estants  and  Catholics, — the  latter  from  many  grievous  dis 
abilities,  which  had  previously  made  them  a  discontented, 
persecuted  people — and  the  former,  when  dissenters  from 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  church,  by  removing  the  test 
acts  and  oppressions  which  kept  Presbyterians,  Quakers, 
Independents,  Methodists,  in  many  cases,  out  of  places 
of  power  and  trust ;  has  endowed  many  schools  in  Ire 
land,  and  some  in  England  ;  encouraged  mechanics'  in 
stitutes,  and  the  spread  of  scientific  knowledge  ;  and  les 
sened  the  disabilities  under  which  the  Jews  suffered.  She 
has  made  many  and  valuable  reforms  in  her  colonies  ; 
given  the  Canadians  the  local  administration  of  their  town 
ship  and  county  affairs,  lent  them  large  sums  of  money, 
given  them  munificent  grants  for  canals  and  railroads,  lent 
them  millions  and  endorsed  the  loans,  and  done  much  for 


RECENT    BRITISH    IMPROVEMENTS.  221 

the  numbers  of  wretched,  hopeless  victims  who  pine  in 
shackles.  While  we  are  doing  our  very  best  to  increase 
the  numbers  of  wretched,  hopeless  victims  who  pine  in 
slavery,  and  cursing  new  regions  of  God's  earth  with  that 
horrid  scourge,  Britain  has  paid  nearly  four  hundred  mil 
lions  of  dollars  to  blot  out  African  bondage  from  the  face 
of  the  earth;  she  has  greatly  improved  her  jury  and  libel 
laws  ;  she  has  humanized  her  penal  code  ;  she  has  done 
more  than  we,  within  the  last  thirty  years,  to  make  the 
civil  code  clear,  distinct,  and  suitable  to  the  condition  of 
society  and  her  institutions.  The  cruel  restrictions  on  a 
free  press,  which  banished  many  and  imprisoned  more, 
are  chiefly  repealed  ;  the  navigation  laws  reduced  into 
one  act ;  excellent  amendments  made  in  many  of  her 
courts  of  justice,  as  to  their  procedure  ;  her  STAMP  duties 
lessened  ;  and  while  salt,  soap,  tea,  sugar,  coffee,  and  a 
thousand  other  things  of  more  or  less  utility,  are  either 
freed  from  taxation,  or  the  tax  on  them  lessened  at  least 
fifty  millions  a  year — a  direct  tax  of  twelve  cents  per 
pound  is  laid  on  the  incomes  of  all  men  worth  over  seven 
hundred  dollars  a  year,  whether  from  bank  stock  or  broad 
acres,  but  persons  under  seven  hundred  dollars  a  year  in 
come  pay  none  of  it.  Not  long  since  she  took  three  mil 
lions  of  dollars,  yearly  duty,  off  American  cotton  ;  and 
she  prohibits  the  growth  of  tobacco  in  the  United  King 
dom,  giving  us  the  virtual  monopoly  of  supplying  her. 
Under  the  proposed  system  of  trade,  Buffalo  and  Lock- 
port  will  soon  have  as  deep  an  interest  in  peace  with 
England  as  Charleston  now  has.  These,  and  many  other 
changes  for  the  better,  including  the  breaking  up  of  the 
monopoly  of  the  East  India  Company  to  supply  teas,  and 
trade  between  India  and  the  United  Kingdom,  the  reduc 
tion  of  the  tithe  system,  especially  in  Ireland,  and  the 


228  REV.    THEODORE    PARKER. 

expenditure  of  many  millions  on  railroads,  turnpikes,  ca 
nals,  bridges,  and  an  infinite  number  of  other  useful 
works,  are  only  a  part  of  the  recent  reforms." 

Mr.  Parker,  who  claims  to  be  an  ambassador  of  the 
benevolent  Jesus,  and  of  the  great  and  kind  Father  of  all 
human  souls,  speaks  of  the  "  Divine  nature  of  MAN," 
which  he  says  in  America  "  is  respected"  Alas  !  how  is 
the  divine  nature  of  man  respected  in  the  slaveholding 
states  in  America  ?  What  people  in  any  age,  in  any  part 
of  the  globe,  have  so*  shamelessly  and  barbarously  out 
raged  the  dignity  of  human  nature  as  the  American  slave 
holders  ?  The  reverend  gentleman  affords  evidence  in 
the  very  next  sentence  he  uttered,  that  this  assertion  was 
not  hastily  made,  and  that'when  he  challenges  the  appro 
bation  of  his  audience  for  the  evidence  manifested  by  the 
American  people  of  their  regard  for  the  "  Divine  nature 
of  man,"  he  had  in  his  view  negro  slavery ;  for  he  imme 
diately  adds,  that  the  condition  of  the  laboring  classes  in 
Englan4  is  worse  than  that  of  the  American  slave,  arid  so 
much  worse,  that  the  English  laborer  would  "  fall  down 
on  his  knees  and  beg  to  be  admitted  to  the  worst  condi 
tion  of  southern  slavery." 

Mr.  Parker  well  knew  that  the  aegis  of  the  law  is  thrown 
around  the  poorest  Englishman  ;  that  his  person  is  sa 
cred  ;  that  he  has  the  unrestricted  right  of  locomotion  ; 
that  he  can  choose  his  employer ;  that  if  dissatisfied 
with  his  wages  or  his  country,  it  depends  on  his  own  vo 
lition  whether  he  will  emigrate  to  another  country  ;  that 
the  "  world  is  all  before  him,"  and  that  even  the  monarch 
on  his  throne  has  not  power  to  restrain  him  in  this  exercise 
of  his  own  sovereign  will  and  pleasure.  Nay,  more, — that 
if  he  elects  to  seek  his  fortune  in  America,  either  in  the 
British  provinces  or  the  United  States,  facilities  are  fur- 


TAMMANY    HALL    MEETING.  229 

nished  by  the  British  public  to  enable  him  to  effectuate 
his  intention.  Such  a  man  thus  situated,  Mr.  Parker  af 
firms,  would  on  his  knees  beg  to  become  the  property  of 
the  southern  slaveholder.  Mr.  Parker  knows  that  the 
slave  has  no  more  power  over  himself  than  the  ox  or  the 
sheep.  That  both  the  slave  and  his  posterity  are  divested 
of  all  human  rights, — that  he  is  turned  into  a  thing;  that 
his  flesh  and  bones  belong  to  another,  and  are  therefore 
liable  to  be  lacerated  or  made  an  article  of  merchandise, 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  owner.  And  yet  the  pious  Mr. 
Parker  solemnly  declares,  that  the  condition  of  such  a 
creature  is  preferable  to  that  of  the  free-born  and  free 
English  laborer  !  Mr.  Parker  knew  better.  He  knew  he 
uttered  a  falsehood,  a  vile  and  wicked  falsehood  ;  and  he 
chose  the  sacred  desk,  while  engaged  in  the  solemn  dis 
charge  of  the  duties  of  his  office  as  an  ambassador  of  the 
God  of  heaven,  for  the  place  and  time  of  publishing  that 
wilful  lie.  He  uttered  and  published  that  lie  in  entire 
disregard  of  the  rights  and  sufferings  of  three  millions  of 
his  fellow-men,  for  the  mean  and  pitiful  purpose  of  ob 
taining  an  approving  smile  from  the  southern  slaveholder 
and  his  northern  advocate.  And  this  man  prates  about 
his  detestation  of  slavery  !  Pshaw  !  From  my  soul 
I  abhor  and  scorn  the  sanctimonious  hypocrite,  and 
the  fool  who  believes  and  the  knave  who  affects  to  be 
lieve  him. 

I  also  observe  in  the  New  York  papers  the  report  of  the 
proceedings  of  a  meeting  at  Tammany  Hall  on  the  19th 
day  of  December,  1845,  of  democratic  citizens  burning 
with  zeal* for  the  extension  and  preservation  of  EQUAL 
RIGHTS,  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  their 
views  in  relation  to  the  amendments  which  ought  to  be 
made  by  the  then  anticipated  Convention,  to  the  Consti- 


230  MEETING    AT    TAMMANY    HALL. 

tution  of  the  state  of  New  York.  At  that  meeting  the 
following  resolution  was  adopted  : 

"  That  the  distinction  established  in  the  present  con 
stitution  between  the  people  of  color,  allowing  such  of 
them  as  have  property  to  vote,  and  excluding  others,  is 
an  anti-republican  distinction,  as  the  possession  of  prop 
erty  is  not  the  test  of  intelligence  and  worth  ;  and  that  as 
we  are  therefore  driven  to  the  alternative  of  excluding  all 
or  allowing  all  of  these  people  to  vote,  we  are  most  deci 
dedly  of  the  opinion  that  all  should  be  excluded.  We  can 
not  regard  them  as  belonging  to  the  race  to  which  the 
government  of  this  country  is  committed  ;  that  there  is 
a  natural  antipathy  between  the  races,  founded  on  strong 
natural  and  physical  differences,  forbidding  social  or  po 
litical  amalgamation ;  that  the  attempt  to  unite  the  races 
by  constitutional  or  legal  provisions,  has  signally  failed  in 
this  state  already  ;  that  a  constitutional  provision,  not  in 
accordance  with  public  sentiment  in  this  respect,  would 
again  fail  in  elevating  the  colored  race  to  a  practical  par 
ticipation  in  the  government  of  this  state,  and  that  it  is 
most  unwise  to  adopt  any  constitutional  provision  which 
will  not,  in  fact,  be  sustained  by  public  sentiment,  or  to 
attempt  to  make  such  sentiment  conform  to  a  constitu 
tional  provision." 

It  appears  to  me  that  the  history  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  last  half  century,  renders  the  probability  greater 
that  the  free  states  will  become  slaveholding,  than  that  the 
slaveholding  states  will  abolish  slavery.  From  present 
indications  it  is  pretty  obvious,  that  if  the  free  states  con 
tinue  to  repudiate  the  institution  of  slavery,  it  will  be  from 
considerations  growing  out  of  the  established  doctrines  of 
political  economy,  or  in  other  words,  from  a  calculation 


NEW  YORK  CONSTITUTION    OF    1821.  231 

of  profit  and  loss,  and  not  from  a  regard  to  principle,  or 
to  human  rights. 

During  the  Revolution,  in  the  year  1777,  John  Jay, 
George  Clinton,  Robert  R.  Livingston,  and  others,  the 
patriots  of  that  day,  formed  a  constitution  for  the  state  of 
New  York,  by  which  an  equal  right  of  suffrage  was  ex 
tended  to  all  citizens,  without  regard  to  color.  In  1821, 
that  constitution  was  revised,  and  although  the  exercise 
of  the  right  of  suffrage  by  white  citizens  was  greatly  ex 
tended,  it  was  much  restricted  as  respects  the  blacks. 
While  no  property  qualification  was  required  of  the  white 
man,  the  colored  citizen  was  not  permitted  to  vote  unless 
he  was  the  owner  of  a  freehold  estate  worth  at  least 
$250.  At  that  time,  as  it  has  been  for  forty  out  of  forty- 
eight  years,  the  office  of  president  was  held  by  a  slave 
holder.  A  majority  of  the  convention  of  1821  were  the 
political  friends  of  the  President,  and  that  majority,  in  de 
spite  of  an  able  and  zealous  opposition*  from  the  political 
opponents  of  the  President,  adopted  the  clause  to  which 
I  have  referred.f 

If  the   object  contemplated  by  the  resolution  I   have 


*  There  was  but  one  dissentient,  Chief-Justice  Spencer. 

t  It  ought  to  be  mentioned  that  in  1821  there  were  many  slaves  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  but  that  by  a  law  passed  in  1816,  all  were  to  be  free 
on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1827.  If  by  the  provisions  of  the  constitution 
the  same  right  of  suffrage  had  been  granted  to  the  black  as  to  the  white 
citizen,  all  who  in  1827  should  become  free  would  the  next  day  be  enti 
tled  to  vote  for  any  officer  of  the  government.  In  view  of  this,  it  was 
apprehended  that  the  class  of  men  thus  suddenly  emerging  from  slavery 
would  be  an  unsafe  depository  of  the  elective  franchise.  Col.  Young,  who 
was  a  leading  democratic  member  of  the  convention,  avowed  this  as  the 
principal  ground  on  which  he  supported  the  restriction.  Undoubtedly  many 
other  real  friends  of  the  rights  of  men,  whether  black  or  white,  voted  for 
the  restriction  for  the  same  reason. — Editor. 


232  NEGRO    SUFFRAGE. 

quoted  should  be  carried  into  effect  by  the  convention  and 
people  of  New  York,  it  will  be  another  advance  towards 
what  the  south  most  ardently  desire,  the  degradation  of 
the  negro  race  in  the  free  states.  That  the  meeting  at 
Tammany  was  induced  to  adopt  the  resolution  with  a 
view  to  afford  a  proof  of  their  devotion  to  the  slaveholding 
administration  now  in  power,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  In 
deed,  this  very  resolution  was  indicated,  by  the  government 
organ- at.  Washington,  as  proper  to  be  adopted  as  an  evi 
dence  of  the  fealty  of  the  faithful  of  the  city  of  New 
York  ;  and  more  especially,  as  a  test  of  the  obedience  of 
those  who  participated  in  the  drippings  from  the  custom 
house  in  that  port.  Yes,  a  government  newspaper  editor* 
had  the  impudence  to  command  the  people  of  an  indepen 
dent  state,  as  an  evidence  of  their  allegiance  to  the  south 
ern  dynasty,  to  disfranchise  forty  thousand  of  their  native- 
born  citizens  !  To  this  mandate  the  above  resolution  was 
the  humble  response.  I  observe,  tob,  that  a  Mr.  Forney, 
said  to  have  come  from  Philadelphia,  but  who  may  have 
been  a  confidential  agent  of  the  President,  was  in  attend 
ance,  and  harangued  the  meeting,  and  in  other  respects 
was  very  active  in  teaching  the  New  York  democrats  what 
sort  of  a  constitution  they  ought  to  have.  It  will  be  seen 
hereafter  that  those  who  are  the  most  zealous,  loud,  and 
boisterous  against  negro  suffrage,  if  they  are  not  now 
participants  of  the  pecuniary  favors  of  the  general  gov 
ernment,  will  soon  be  rewarded  by  lucrative  offices,  which 
will  be  bestowed  on  them  by  the  President.  Which  class 
of  men  are  the  most  safe  depositories  of  the  power  to  elect 
law-makers,  those  who  barter  their  votes  and  their  influ 
ence  with  the  national  executive  for  lucrative  appoint* 

*  Mr.  Ritchie. 


NEGRO    SUFFRAGE.  233 

ments,  or  that  race  of  men  who  have  the  misfortune  to 
have  a  black  or  darkened  skin,  who  ask  nothing,  and  ex 
pect  nothing  from  the  government  but  good  laws  and  pro 
tection  of  their  property,  persons,  and  lives  ? 

But,  say  the  democrats  of  Tammany  Hall,  there  is  a 
difference  between  the  two  races,  and  therefore,  although 
the  negro  race  are  natives  of  the  state,  though  their  indus 
try  contributes  to  the  aggregate  wealth  of  the  country, 
though  their  services  administer  to  the  convenience  and 
ease  of  the  luxurious  and  wealthy,  though  they  pay  their 
proportion  of  the  taxes  of  the  country,  though  they, are 
subject  to  its  laws,  and  when  invaded,  shed  their  blood  in 
its  defence,  we,  the  friends  of  equal  rights,  will  be  the 
governors,  and  they  shall  be  the  governed.  True,  ihere 
is  a  difference  between  the  two  races.  The  skin  of  the 
one  race  is  white,  and  that  of  the  other  black.  So  among 
the  Tammany  democrats — I  presume  there  may  have 
been  some  ten  men  who  had  red  hair,  and  all  the  rest 
flax-colored  or  black  hair.  What  if  the  meeting  had  voted 
that  every  man  who  had  red  hair  should  be  disfranchised, 
or  that  no  Albino  should  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage  ? 
What  would  the  democracy  have  said  of  such  a  vote  ? 

But  it  is  said  that  the  negroes  in  the  free  states  are  a 
degraded  class  of  men,  and  that  they  are  not  sufficiently 
enlightened  to  exercise  judiciously  the  right  of  suffrage. 
That  they  are  a  degraded  people  I  admit,  but  who  caused 
their  degradation  ?  No  man  who  claims  any  standing  in 
society  .^will  deny  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  whites  to 
endeavor  to  elevate  the  character  and  moral  standing  of 
the  negroes.  Is  depriving  them  of  all  political  power,  by 
robbing  them  of  the  right  of  suffrage,  calculated  to  elevate 
their  standing  and  character  ?  Is  it  not  rather  fixing  upon 
them  the  indelible  stamp  of  degradation  ?  Is  it  not  taking 


234  OPINIONS    OF    CLAY    AND    UPSHUR. 

from  them  all  human  inducement  to  exert  themselves  to 
acquire  knowledge,  and  a  reputation  for  virtue  and  talents  ? 
Why,  then,  in  a  state  claiming  to  be  free, — why,  I  say, 
by  the  organic  law,  doom  forty  thousand  people  to  politi 
cal  slavery  ?  Are  the  negroes  naturally  inferior  to  the 
whites  ?  Hear  what  Henry  Clay  says  of  a  negro  born 
and  educated  a  slave  : 

"  Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  I,  Henry  Clay, 
of  Ashland,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  fidelity,  attach 
ment,  and  services  of  Charles  Dupey,  (the  son  of  Aaron, 
commonly  called  Charles,  and  Charlotte,)  and  my  esteem 
and  regard  for  him,  do  hereby  liberate  and  emancipate  the 
said  Charles  Dupey,  from  all  obligation  of  service  to  me, 
or  my  representatives,  investing  him,  as  far  as  any  act  of 
mine  can  invest,  with  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a 
freeman. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand 
and  affixed  my  seal,  this  9th  day  of  December,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord,  1844. 

"H.  CLAY,  [L.  s.] 
"  Sealed  and  delivered  in  the  presence  of 

"  THOMAS  H.  CLAY." 

The  Hon.  Abel  P.  Upshur,  late  Secretary  of  State,  an 
amiable  and  excellent  man,  although  a  zealous  advocate 
for  slavery,  has  left  on  record  the  following  opinion  of  one 
of  that  race,  whom  the  Tammany  champions  for  equal 
rights  think  constitutionally  incapable  and  unfit  to  be  in 
trusted  with  the  right  to  vote  at  the  elections  : 

"  I  emancipate  and  set  free  my  servant  David  Rich, 
and  direct  my  executors  to  give  him  one  hundred  dollars. 
1  recommend  him  in  the  strongest  manner  to  the  respect, 


CONCLUSION  235 

esteem,  and  confidence  of  any  community  in  which  he 
may  happen  to  live.  He  has  been  my  slave  for  twenty- 
four  years,  during  all  which  time  he  has  been  trusted  to 
t  every  extent  and  in  every  respect.  My  confidence  in  him 
has  been  unbounded  :  his  relation  to  myself  and  family 
has  been  such  as  to  afford  him  daily  opportunities  to  de 
ceive  and  injure  us,  and  yet  he  has  never  been  detected 
in  any  serious  fault,  nor  even  in  an  intentional  breach  of 
the  decorums  of  his  station.  His  intelligence  is  of  a  high 
order,  his  integrity  above  all  suspicion,  and  his  sense  of 
right  and  propriety  correct  and  even  refined.  I  feel  that 
he  is  justly  entitled  to  carry  this  certificate  from  me  in 
the  new  relations  which  he  must  now  form.  It  is  due  to 
his  long  and  most  faithful  services,  and  to  the  sincere 
and  steady  friendship  which  I  bear  him.  In  the  uninter 
rupted  and  confidential  intercourse  of  twenty-four  years, 
I  have  never  given  nor  had  occasion  to  give  him  an  un 
pleasant  word.  I  know  no  man  who  has  fewer  faults  or 
more  excellences  than  he" 

I  cannot  forbear  to  express  my  surprise  and  deep  re 
gret  that  so  good  a  man  as  Judge  Upshur  unquestionably 
was,  should  have  permitted  himself  to  exert  his  influence, 
officially  and  personally,  in  favor  of  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  extending  the  power  of 
holding  in  slavery,  and  sinking  to  the  level  of  brutes,  such 
men  as  DAVID  RICH. 

In  closing  these  memorandums  and  desultory  remarks, 
already  extended  far  more  than  was  originally  intended, 
and  in  terminating  the  history  of  my  life,  I  can  only  state 
that  my  fixed  resolution  is  to  end  my  days  here,  on  the 
island  of  England — here,  where  castes  on  account  of  the 
complexion  or  the  color  of  the  skin  are  unknown — here, 
on  a  soil,  which,  the  moment  it  is  trodden  by  the  slave 


236  CONCLUSION. 

of  Democratic  America,  the  chains  fall  from  him,  and  he 
is  transformed,  by  the  mighty  power  of  "  the  genius  of 
universal  emancipation,"  from  a  THING  to  an  intellectual 
being.  *  *  *  * 

And  yet  I  love  "  my  own,  my  native  land  ;"  yet  I  rec 
ollect,  with  melancholy  pleasure,  her  spacious  bays,  her 
extensive  and  fertile  plains,  her  broad  rivers,  and  her  lofty 
and  majestic  mountains.  Gladly  would  I  exchange  the 
fine  views  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  old  town  of  War 
wick,  for  those  presented  by  the  valley  of  the  Potomac  ; 
and  even  the  solemn  and  august  towers  of  this  renowned 
Gothic  castle,  fail  to  interest  my  feelings  when  I  think  of 
the  mansion-house  of  my  early  and  venerable  friend  Col. 
Boyd.  The  sunny  south  is  still  dear  to  me.  Nay,  more, 
— the  warm-hearted,  generous,  enthusiastic,  and  gallant 
southerner,  notwithstanding  all  the  persecutions  and  suf 
ferings  I  have  endured  from  southern  citizens,  still  chal 
lenges  my  respect  and  admiration. 

"  O  America  !  with  all  thy  faults  I  love  thee  still." 
But,  aside  from  my  love  and  affection  for  the  country 
which  gave  me  birth,  I  cannot  but  regard  with  deep  and 
thrilling  interest  the  experiment  commenced  by  the  patri 
ots  of  the  new  world  in  1776,  which  must  decide  the 
great  question,  whether  man  is  capable  of  governing  him 
self.  This  experiment  is  still  being  made,  and  enlight 
ened  and  benevolent  men  in  every  part  of  the  globe  at  this 
moment  contemplate  its  result  with  an  anxiety  the  most 
intense,  mingled  with  gloomy  and  painful  apprehensions. 
Conscious  of  this,  I  cannot  suppress  my  own  ardent  aspi 
rations  for  the  continuance  of  the  union  of  the  people  of 
that  glorious  country.  But,  alas  !  a  dark  and  portentous 
cloud  is  gathering,  from  which,  ere  long,  a  tempest  will 
burst  on  that  heaven-favored  land.  In  the  midst  of  the 


CONCLUSION.  237 

body  politic,  there  is  a  foul  and  deadly  canker  which  is 
corroding  its  vitals.  In  that  great  country,  churning  to  be 
the  only  free  country  on  earth,  man  claims  to  be  the  owner 
of  his  fellow-man,  and  a  more  galling  and  inhuman  system 
of  slavery  exists  than  ever  did  in  any  age  or  in  any  quar 
ter  of  the  world.  It  has  been  already  shown,  that  the 
relation  between  master  and  slave  is  that  of  war — unmiti 
gated  and  interminable — it  may  be  an  exterminating  war. 
Yes,  there  are  three  millions  of  people — not,  it  is  true, 
embodied  together  in  martial  order  and  drawn  up  in  regu 
lar  battalia,  but  who  are  to  be  found  in  the  fields,  in  the 
workshops,  and  at  the  firesides  of  their  enemies.  The 
day  will  come — the  dreadful  day  will  come,  (may  a  mer 
ciful  God  put  far  away  that  day,)  when  the  rich  rice  and 
cotton  fields  of  the  south  will  be  drenched  with  human 
gore,  when  the  quiet  retreats  of  the  domestic  circle  will 
be  stained  with  the  blood  of  "  wife,  children,  and  friends," 
— and  when  the  gorgeous  palaces  which  now  adorn  the 
southern  plantations  will  be  enveloped  in  flames.  *  *  *  * 
Emancipation  by  the  peaceable  and  voluntary  enactment 
of  laws  by  the  legislatures  of  the  slaveholding  states,  is 
the  only  means  of  averting  these  evils. 

And  is  there  no  hope  that  these  means  will  be  adopted  ? 
There  is  none,  or  at  most  very  little,  from  the  efforts  or 
influence  of  the  free  states.  They  have  no  right  to  inter 
fere  with  the  domestic  regulations  of  the  other  states. 
Slavery,  by  the  national  constitution,  as  it  is  construed,  is 
guarded  by  impregnable  barriers  from  attacks  by  the  sis 
ter  states.  It  is  sustained  by  the  ecclesiastical,  commer 
cial,  and  manufacturing  interests  of  the  north  and  west, 
as  well  as  by  the  ill-founded  but  inveterate  prejudices 
against  color,  of  the  less-informed  but  most  numerous 
class  of  the  people.  There  can  be  no  hope  of  the  slave 


238  CONCLUSION. 

for  liberation  from  the  political  power  of  the  free  states, 
so  long  as  they  continue  to  vest  the  patronage  of  the  na 
tion  and  the  national  executive  power  in  the  hands  of 
slaveholders.*  But  may  we  not  cherish  the  expectation, 
that  in  this  enlightened  age  of  the  world,  patriotic  and  be 
nevolent  men  will  rise  up  in  these  same  slaveholding 
states,  possessing  so  large  a  portion  of  virtue,  love  of 
justice,  and  moral  courage,  as  to  induce  them  to  assert 
and  defend  the  rights  of  man — to  exhibit  in  bold  relief  the 
blighting  effects  of  slavery,  and  to  warn  the  slaveholder 
of  his  impending  danger  ?  I  will  not  believe  that  the 
race  of  Jeffersons  and  Wythes  has  become  extinct.  Al 
ready  has  the  noble-minded  and  self-devoted  CASSIUS  M. 
CLAY,  at  the  hazard  of  his  property  and  life,  avowed  him 
self  the  friend  of  universal  emancipation. 

Oh  !  if  some  great  and  good  man— some  master-spirit 
of  the  south — some  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  could  divest  him 
self  of  the  prejudices  of  education,  and  the  influence  of 
his  sectional  and  interested  friends,  and,  like  the  patriotic 
and  self-devoted  Cassius  M.  Clay  of  the  west,  bow  to 
the  genius  of  universal  emancipation,  and  declare  himself 
for  the  equal  rights  and  dignity  of  man  as  man,  and  carry 
with  him,  as  he  unquestionably  would,  the  hearts  of  the 


*  The  discussions  in  Congress  last  winter  on  the  WILMOT  PROVISO,  and 
the  avowals  made  on  that  occasion  by  the  representatives  of  the  slave- 
holding  states,  it  is  believed,  have  induced  a  course  of  reflection  among 
the  citizens  of  the  free  states,  which  will  cause  those  states  to  support  as 
their  next  presidential  candidate,  a  man  who  is  opposed  to  the  further  ex 
tension  of  slavery.  Should  one  of  the  two  great  parties  support  a  can 
didate  on  the  principle  contained  in  the  Wilmot  proviso,  such  a  party 
would  carry  with  it  the  hearts  of  an  immense  majority  of  the  people,  and 
the  result  would  prove  that  Mr.  Melbourn  is  in  an  error  when  he  affirms, 
or  rather  intimates,  that  the  political  power  of  the  north  and  west  never 
will  be  exerted  against  slavery. — Editor. 


CONCLUSION.  239 

true  chivalry  of  the  south — what  a  halo  of  glory  would 
cluster  around  his  brow — how  undying,  how  imperishable 
would  be  his  fame  !  If  he  who  saved  the  life,  or  res 
cued  from  captivity,  a  single  citizen  of  Rome,  merited  the 
laurel  crown,  what  immortal  -honors  would  that  man 
achieve,  who  should  unbind  the  chains  and  open  the  pris 
on  doors  of  three  millions  of  native  Americans  ! 


THE    END. 


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